UNIVERSITY  of  CALIFORNIA 


■LES 
LIBRARY 


Zbc  IRural  Science  Series 

Edited  by  L.  H.  BAILEY 


FARM  BOYS  AND  GIRLS 


3tfje  &ural  Science  .Series 

The  Soil. 

The  Spraying:  of  Plants. 

Milk  and  its  Products. 

The  Fertility  of  the  Land. 

The  Principles  of  Fruit-Growing. 

Bush-Fruits. 

Fertilizers. 

The  Principles  of  Agriculture.     15th  Ed. 

Irrigation  and  Drainage. 

The  Farmstead. 

Rural  Wealth  and  Welfare. 

The  Principles  of  Vegetable-Gardening. 

Farm  Poultry. 

The  Feeding  of  Animals. 

The  Farmer's  Business  Handbook. 

The  Diseases  of  Animals. 

The  Horse. 

How  to  Choose  a  Farm. 

Forage  Crops. 

Bacteria  in  Relation  to  Country  Life. 

The  Nursery-Book. 

Plant-Breeding.    4th  Ed. 

The  Forcing-Book. 

The  Pruning-Book. 

Fruit-growing  in  Arid  Regions. 

Rural  Hygiene. 

Dry-Farming. 

Law  for  the  American  Farmer. 

Farm  Boys  and  Girls. 

The  Training  and  Breaking  of  Horses. 

Others  in  preparation. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/farmboysgirlsOOmckeiala 


Plate  I. 


\,    V   I 


FARM   BOYS  AND   GIRLS 


BT 

WILLIAM   A.  McKEEVER 

PROFESSOR   OP   PHILOSOPHY 
KANSAS   STATE   AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE 


Neto  If  Otfc 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

1913 

All  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  1912, 
Bt  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  February,  191a.     Reprinted 
August,  1913;  January,  1913. 


Nodsoob  $rro« 

J.  8.  Cashing  Co.  —  Berwick  <fc  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


S52.I 


C*f 


DEDICATED 

TO   THE   SERVICE   OF   THE 

TEN  MILLION  BOYS   AND   GIRLS 

WHO   ARE   ENROLLED  IN 

THE  RURAL  SCHOOLS 

OF  AMERICA 


PREFACE 

In  the  preparation  of  this  book  I  have  had  in 
mind  two  classes  of  readers;  namely,  the  rural 
parents  and  the  many  persons  who  are  interested  in 
carrying  forward  the  rural  work  discussed  in  the 
several  chapters.  It  has  been  my  aim  to  give  as 
much  specific  aid  and  direction  as  possible.  The 
first  two  chapters  constitute  a  mere  outline  of  some 
of  the  fundamental  principles  of  child  development. 
It  would  be  fortunate  if  the  reader  who  is  unfa- 
miliar with  such  principles  could  have  a  course  of 
reading  in  the  volumes  that  treat  them  extensively. 
Nearly  every  suggestion  given  in  the  main  body  of 
the  book  is  based  on  what  has  already  either  been 
undertaken  with  a  degree  of  success  or  planned  for 
in  some  rural  community. 

I  am  very  greatly  indebted  to  the  following  per- 
sons and  firms  for  their  kindness  and  generosity  in 
lending  pictures  and  cuts  for  illustrating  the  book : 
E.  T.  Fairchild,  State  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction,  Topeka,  Kansas  ;  J.  W.  Crabtree, 
Principal  State  Normal  School,  River  Falls,  Wis- 
consin ;  George  W.  Brown,  Superintendent  of  Edgar 
County,  Paris,  Illinois ;  O.  J.  Kern,  Superintendent 
of    Winnebago   County,   Rockford,   Illinois;    Miss 


viii  Preface 

Jessie  Fields,  Superintendent  of  Page  County,  Cla- 
rinda,  Iowa;  A.  D.  Holloway,  General  Secretary, 
County  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Marysville,  Kansas ;  Dr.  Myron 
T.  Scudder,  of  Rutgers  College;  Doubleday,  Page 
&  Company,  Garden  City,  New  York ;  Rural  Man- 
hood, New  York  City ;  The  Farmer's  Voice,  Chicago, 
Illinois ;  The  American  Agriculturist,  New  York  City ; 
The  Oklahoma  Farmer,  Oklahoma  City,  Oklahoma; 
The  Inland  Farmer,  Lexington,  Kentucky;  The 
Farmer's  Advocate,  Winnipeg,  Canada. 

My  thanks  are  also  due  Successful  Farming,  of 
Des  Moines,  Iowa,  for  permission  to  use  excerpts 
from  President  Kirk's  article  on  the  model  school, 
and  portions  of  a  series  of  brief  articles  written  for 
the  same  magazine  by  myself. 

The  references  given  at  the  close  of  the  chapters 
have  been  selected  with  considerable  care.  It  will 
be  found  in  nearly  every  case  that  they  give  help- 
ful and  more  extended  discussions  of  the  several 
topics  treated  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

WILLIAM  A.  McKEEVER. 

Manhattan,  Kansas. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

OHAPT1B  FAO» 

I.    Building  a  Good  Life 1 

What  is  a  Good  Life  ? 2 

1.  Good  Health 3 

2.  Usefulness 8 

3.  Moral  Strength 4 

4.  Social  Efficiency 5 

5.  Religious  Interest 5 

6.  Happiness 6 

Is  the  Human  Stock  comparatively  Sound  ?   .        .  7 

II.    The  Time  to  Build 12 

What  of  the  Human  Instincts         ....  12 

The  Dawning  Instincts  .        .        .        .        .        .12 

Social  Sensitiveness  Helpful 19 

HI.    The  Rural  Home  and  Character  Development  26 
What  Agencies  build  up  Character  ?       .         .        .26 

1.  Play 27 

2.  Work 30 

3.  Recreation 33 

Moving  to  Town  for  the  Children  ....  36 

A  Back-to-the-country  Club 38 

IV.     The  Country  Mother  and  the  Children  .        .  41 

Poor  Conditions  of  Women 42 

For  the  Sake  of  the  Children 44 

1.  Surplus  Nerve  Energy 44 

2.  A  Rest  Period 45 

3.  The  Home  Conveniences        ....  46 

4.  The  Mother's  Outings 47 

5.  The  Home  Help 48 

ix 


Table  of  Contents 


6.  The  Children  shield  the  Mother 

7.  Planning  for  the  Children  . 

8.  A  Common  Conspiracy 

V.    Constructing  the  Country  Dwelling 
Plans  and  Specifications  not  Available 
What  appeals  to  the  Children 
The  House  Plan  .... 

How  One  Farmer  does  It    . 
Outbuildings  and  Equipment 
Human  Rights  prior  to  Animal  Rights 
The  Children's  Room 
The  Evening  Hour      .... 

VI.    Juvenile  Literature  in  the  Farm  Home 

How  Good  Thinking  grows  up  and  Flourishes 
Types  of  Literature     . 
A  Selected  List   .... 
Literature  on  Child-rearing 

1.  Periodicals  on  Child-rearing 

2.  Books  on  Child-rearing 

VH.    The  Rural  Church  and  the  Young  People 
Decadence  of  Rural  Life 
Work  for  the  Ministry 
The  Country  Minister 
A  Mistake  in  Training 
Rural  Child-rearing    . 
The  Churches  too  Narrow 
Constructive  Work  of  the  Church 
An  Innovation  in  the  Rural  Church 
Spiritualize  Child  Life 
A  Summary         .... 

VHL    The  Transformation  of  the  Rural  School 

Radical  Changes  in  the  View-point  and  Method 
All  have  a  Right  to  Culture 


101 
102 
10S 


Table  of  Contents 


Work  for  a  Longer  Term 

Compulsory  Attendance  Laws  Needed  . 

Better  Schoolhouses  and  Equipment 

1.  Location 

2.  The  Water  Supply 

3.  Size  and  Adaptation  of  Grounds    . 

4.  Improvement  of  School  Grounds  . 
A  Model  Rural  School  .... 
The  Cornell  Schoolhouse 

Help  make  a  School  Play  Ground  . 
General  Instruction  in  Agriculture 
Domestic  Economy  and  Home  Sanitation 
Consolidation  of  Rural  Schools 
More  High  Schools  Needed    . 
Better  Rural  Teachers  Needed 


IX.  The  County  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion   

Boys  leave  the  Farm  too  Young     . 

Purposes  of  the  County  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  .... 

How  to  organize  a  County  Organization 

1.  Select  a  Good  Leader     . 

2.  Local  Leaders  Necessary 

3.  A  Committee  on  Finance 

4.  Little  Property  Ownership     . 
How  to  conduct  the  Work 


Local  and  County  Athletic  Clubs 
Debating  and  Literary  Clubs 
Receptions  and  Suppers 
Educational  Tours  and  Problems 
Camping  and  Hiking 
Exhibitions    .... 

Spirituality  not  lost  Sight  Of  . 

Work  in  a  sparsely  Settled  Country 


1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 


Xll 


Table  of  Contents 


CHAPTER 

X. 


XI. 


xn. 


xm. 


The  Farmer  and  his  Wife  as  Leaders  of  the 

Young 

Preparation  for  the  Service 

Work  persistently  for  Social  Unity 

Corn-raising  and  Bread-baking  Clubs 

Other  Forms  of  Contests    . 

The  Improvement  of  the  School  Situation 

Home  and  School  Play  Problems 

A  Neighborhood  Library     . 

Holidays  and  Recreation  for  the  Young 

Many  over-work  their  Children  . 

Federation  for  Country-life  Progress  . 

The  Vocations  of  Boys  and  Girls 

Other  Local  Possibilities 

The  Boy  Scout  Movement 

Rural  Boy  Scouts  in  Kansas 

How  Much  Work  for  the  Country  Boy 
See  that  the  Work  is  for  the  Boy's  Sake 
Not  Enforced  Labor,  but  Mastery 
Provide  Vacations  for  the  Boy   . 
A  Tentative  Schedule  of  Hours  . 
Think  out  a  Reasonable  Plan 

How  Much  Work  for  the  Country  Girl 
A  Balanced  Life  for  the  Girl 
Work  begins  with  Obedience 
Working  the  Girls  in  the  Field 
Some  Specific  Suggestions  . 
Do  you  Own  your  Daughter  ? 
Difficult  to  make  a  Schedule 
Teach  the  Girl  Self-supremacy 
Summary    .... 


Social  Training  for  Farm  Boys  and  Girls 
A  Happy  Mean  is  Needed  .... 
A  Social  Renaissance  in  the  Country . 


197 
197 
199 


Table  of  Contents  xiii 

CHAPTER  PACK 

Conditions  to  guard  Against       ....    200 

1.  The  Social  Companionship  of  Girls    .         .    201 

2.  Bad  Companionships  for  Boys  .         .        .    202 

3.  Secret  Sex  Habits 204 

4.  The  So-called  Bad  Habits  .  .  .  .205 
A  Center  of  Community  Life  ....  207 
Invite  the  Young  to  the  House  ....  208 
How  to  conduct  a  Social  Entertainment  .  .  209 
What  about  the  Country  Dance  ?  .  .  .211 
Additional  Forms  of  Entertainment    .         .        .    212 

1.  The  Social  Hour  at  the  Religious  Services      212 

2.  A  Country  Literary  Society        .        .        .213 

3.  The  Social  Side  of  the  Economic  Clubs  .  215 
Some  Concluding  Suggestions     ....    215 

XIV.     The  Farm  Boy's  Interest  in  the  Business     .    220 

What  is  in  your  Boy  ? 220 

Much  Experimentation  Necessary      .        .        .221 

1.  Willingness  to  Work 222 

2.  Ability  to  Save 223 

Start  on  a  Small  Scale 224 

Give  your  Son  a  Square  Deal  ....  225 
Keep  the  Boy's  Perfect  Good  Will  .  .  .226 
Some  will  be  retained  on  the  Farm  .  .  .  227 
The  Awakening  often  comes  from  Without  .  229 
An  Awakening  in  the  South  ....  229 
Partnership  between  Father  and  Son  .  .  .231 
Summary  and  Concluding  Suggestions        .        .    232 

XV.    Business  Training  for  the  Country  Girl      .    235 
Is  the  Country  Girl  Neglected  ?  ...    236 


Why  the  Girl  leaves  the  Farm    . 
Certain  Rules  to  be  Observed 

1.  Teach  the  Girl  to  Work      . 

2.  Teach  her  Business  Sense  . 


237 
239 
239 
240 


3.   Train  her  to  transact  Personal  Business     .     241 


HV 


Table  of  Contents 


XVI. 


xvn. 


XVHL 


4.  Make  her  the  Family  Accountant 

5.  Miserliness  to  be  Avoided 

6.  Teach  her  to  Give    . 

7.  Teach  the  Meaning  of  a  Contract 

8.  Prepare  her  to  deal  with  Grafters 
Should  there  be  an  Actual  Investment  ? 


PAGE 

242 
243 
244 

245 
246 

247 


What  Schooling  should  the  Country  Boy 

Have 250 

Changes  in  Rural  School  Conditions         .        .  250 

The  Boy  a  Bundle  of  Possibilities     .'        .        .  252 

Classes  of  Native  Ability 253 

The  Great  Talented  Class         .        .        .        .254 

Round  out  the  Boy's  Nature     ....  256 

Other  Important  Matters          ....  257 

Develop  an  Interest  in  Humanity     .         .         .  259 

What  Schooling  should  the  Country  Girl 

Have 262 

Special  Problems  relating  to  the  Girl  .  .  262 
Protecting  the  Girl  at  School  .  .  .  .263 
Lessons  in  Music  and  Art  ....    265 

The  Reward  will  come  in  Time  .        .        .    267 

The  Mother's  Office  as  Teacher         .        .        .268 

Home-life  Education 270 

Education  for  Supremacy  ....    271 

An  Outlook  for  Social  Life         .        .        .        .272 


The  Farm  Boy's  Choice  of  a  Vocation 
Should  the  Farmer's  Son  Farm  ? 
Impatience  of  Parents 
What  of  Predestination  ?  . 
Three  Methods  of  Vocational  Training 

1.  The  Apprentice  Method  . 

2.  The  Cultural  Method 
8.   The  Developmental  Method     . 

The  Farmer  Fortunate 


275 
275 
276 
277 
279 
280 
280 
281 
282 


) 


Table  of  Contents 


xv 


XIX. 


XX. 


What  College  for  the  Country  Boy  ?  . 
The  Foundation  in  Work    .... 

Clean  up  the  Place 

Money  Value  of  an  Agricultural  Education 
A  Successful  Vocation  Certain    . 


PAGE 

283 
284 
285 
286 
287 


The  Farm  Girl's  Preparation  for  a  Vocation  290 

What  is  the  Outlook  ? 290 

Desirable  Occupations  for  Women 

1.  May  teach  the  Young 

2.  May  take  up  Stenography          .        .        .  294 

3.  May  do  Social  Work 295 

4.  May  secure  Clerkships  .  .  .  .  296 
A  College  Course  for  the  Girl  .  .  .  .298 
Associations  with  Refined  Young  Men 
Make  the  Daughter  Attractive  ....  300 
Summary  and  Conclusion 301 


Conclusion  and  Future  Outlook 
Strive  for  Preconceived  Results 
Consult  Expert  Advice 
Meet  Each  Awakening  Interest 
Work  for  Social  Democracy 
The  Outlook  very  Promising 
The  Modern  Service  Training 
The  State  doing  its  Part 
The  New  Era  of  Religion    . 
Final  Conclusion 


Index 


306 
306 
308 
310 
311 
312 
314 
316 
319 
319 
823 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PLATE 
I. 


II. 
III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 


XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 


Fig.  1.  At  least  once  each  day  the  busy  farm 
father  may  think  of  a  way  to  combine  his 
work  with  the  children's  play         .        Frontispiece 

FACING    PAGE 

Fig.  2.  Canadian  boys  breaking  young  oxen  .  6 
Fig.  3.  An  attractive  Kansas  home  ...  28 
Fig.  4.   A  day  nursery  in  the  country  .        .      42 

Fig.  5.  A  rural  home  in  the  South  ...  56 
Fig.  6.  A  well-equipped  farmhouse  ...  64 
Fig.  7.  Children  playing  under  the  shade  trees  .  72 
Figs.  8-9.  Rural  church,  Plainfield,  Illinois  .  86 
Fig.  10.  Village  church  at  Ogden,  Kansas  .  .  92 
Fig.  11.  Corn  Sunday  in  an  Illinois  church  .  96 
Fig.  12.  A  country  schoolhouse  in  California  .  108 
Fig.  13.   Type   of  model   rural   school    used  in 

Kansas 

Fig.  14.   Model  rural  school  at  Kirksville,  Mis 

souri.    Normal 

Fig.  15.   Rear  view  of  the  Kirksville  school 

Fig.  16.   Using  Babcock  tester     . 

Figs.  17-21.    Consolidated   school   and   those  i 

displaced 

Fig.  22.   The  Cornell  rural  schoolhouse 

A.Y.M.C.A.  play  club  . 

Y.M.C.A.  Convention  in  Ohio 

Jerry  Moore,  champion  corn  raiser 

A  lonely  schoolhouse 

Tennis  in  the  country    . 

Country  play  festival     . 

Industrial  exhibit  in  rural  school   . 


Fig.  23 

Fig.  24 

Fig. 

Fig 

Fig 

Fig 

Fig 


25. 
26. 
27. 
28. 
29. 


108 

112 
114 
120 

124 
126 
132 
138 
150 
164 
180 
180 
192 


xviii 

Illustrations 

PLATE 

\ 

PAGH 

XXIII. 

Fig. 

30. 

Agricultural  and  domestic  science  club     208 

XXIV. 

Fig. 

31. 

School  and  church  in  Canada 

.    212 

XXV. 

Fig. 

32. 

Kansas  prize  winners 

.     230 

XXVI. 

Fig. 

33. 

Girls'  doll  display 

.     238 

XXVII. 

Fig. 

34. 

Boys  whittling    . 

.     252 

XXVIII. 

Fig. 

35. 

Study  of  corn 

.     256 

XXIX. 

Fig. 

36. 

School  gardeners 

.     270 

XXX. 

Fig. 

37. 

Country  schoolgirls 

.    290 

XXXI. 

Fig. 

38. 

A  girls'  class  in  sewing 

.    300 

XXXII. 

Fig. 

39. 

Girl  sowing  seed 

.     312 

Fig. 

40. 

Boy  thinning  vegetables 

.    312 

FARM  BOYS  AND   GIRLS 


FARM  BOYS  AND  GIRLS 

CHAPTER  I 

BUILDING  A  GOOD  LIFE 

If  you  were  about  to  begin  the  construction  of  a 
dwelling  house,  what  questions  would  most  likely 
be  uppermost  in  your  mind?  If  this  house  were 
intended  for  your  own  use,  you  would  doubtless 
consider  among  other  important  matters  those  of 
comfort,  convenience  of  arrangement,  attractiveness 
of  appearance,  strength,  and  durableness.  The  great 
variety  of  dwellings  to  be  seen  on  every  hand  is 
outwardly  expressive  of  the  great  variety  of  ideals 
in  the  minds  of  the  people  who  construct  them.  No 
matter  what  means  there  may  be  available  for  the 
purpose,  it  may  be  said  that  he  who  builds  a  house 
thereby  illustrates  in  concrete  form  his  inner  char- 
acter. 

With  practically  the  same  quality  of  materials, 
one  man  will  construct  a  house  apparently  with  the 
thought  that  its  chief  purpose  is  to  be  looked  at. 
Much  work  and  expense  will  be  put  upon  outer 
show  and  embellishment,  while  in  its  inner  arrange- 
ments it  may  be  exceedingly  cramped  and  thought- 
lessly put  together.     Another  will  erect  his  building 


2  Building  a.QooA  Life 

-v'  t  .1  111  vo  a 

with  a  thought  of  placing  it  on  the  market.  Cheap 
workmanship,  weak  and  faulty  joinings,  and  the  like, 
will  be  concealed  by  some  thin  covering  meant  to 
last  until  a  profitable  sale  has  been  made  and  some 
innocent  purchaser  caught  with  a  mere  shell  of  a 
house  in  his  possession.  Occasionally,  however, 
there  is  found  a  man  whose  plans  conform  to  such 
ideals  as  those  first  named. 

What  is  a  good  life? 

As  with  the  construction  of  a  house,  so  it  is  in 
some  measure  with  the  building  of  a  character. 
Some  lives  apparently  are  constructed  to  look  at; 
that  is,  with  the  thought  that  outer  adornment 
and  a  mere  appearance  of  worth  and  beauty  con- 
stitute the  essential  qualities.  Other  lives  are,  in  a 
sense,  made  to  sell.  Not  infrequently  parents  are 
found  developing  their  boys  and  girls  as  if  the  chief 
purpose  were  to  place  them  somewhere  or  other  in 
the  best  possible  money  market.  A  life  is  worth 
only  as  much  as  it  will  bring  in  dollars  and  cents,  is 
apparently  the  predominating  thought  of  such  per- 
sons. And  then,  occasionally,  a  life  is  built  to  live 
in;  that  is,  with  the  idea  that  intrinsic  worth  con- 
stitutes the  essential  nature  of  the  ideal  character. 

But  what  is  a  good  life?  And  why  is  not  this 
precisely  the  question  for  all  parents  to  ask  them- 
selves at  the  time  they  begin  the  development  of  the 
lives   of   their   own   boys   and   girls?    Assuming   a 


Elements  of  a  Good  Life  3 

fairly  sound  physical  and  mental  inheritance  on  the 
part  of  the  child  and  the  given  environment  as  the 
raw  materials  of  construction,  what  ideals  should 
parents  have  uppermost  in  mind  before  undertaking 
the  tremendously  important  and  interesting  duties 
of  constructing  worthy  manhood  and  womanhood 
out  of  the  inherent  natures  of  their  children  ? 

1.  Good  health.  —  It  is  a  difficult  task  to  develop 
a  sound,  efficient  life  without  the  fundamental 
quality  of  good  health.  So  it  may  be  well  to  remind 
parents  of  this  fact  and  to  urge  them  especially  to 
avoid  in  the  lives  of  the  children,  first,  the  beginnings 
of  those  lighter  ailments  which  frequently  grow  into 
menacing  habits  —  for  example,  the  diseases  that 
become  chronic  as  a  result  of  unnecessary  exposure 
to  the  weather  —  and  second,  those  various  con- 
tagious diseases  which  so  often  permanently  deplete 
the  health  of  children,  such  as  scarlet  fever  and 
whooping  cough.  It  is  now  held  by  medical 
authority  that  every  reasonable  effort  should  be 
made  to  prevent  children  from  taking  such  infectious 
ailments  —  that  the  so-called  diseases  of  children  can 
and  should  be  practically  all  avoided. 

2.  Usefulness.  —  The  newer  ideals  of  character- 
building  call  for  the  early  training  of  all  children  as 
if  they  were  to  enter  permanently  upon  some  bread- 
winning  pursuit.  Such  training  is  a  most  direct 
means  of  culture  and  refinement,  provided  it  be  cor- 
related with  the  proper  amount  of  book  learning  and 


4  Building  a  Good  Life 

play  and  recreation.  Such  uniform  and  character- 
building  discipline  tends  to  preserve  the  solidarity  of 
the  race,  and  to  acquaint  all  the  young  with  the 
thoughts  and  feeling  of  the  great  productive  classes. 
It  may  be  this  is  now  regarded  as  both  a  direct 
means  of  culture  and  of  leading  the  young  mind 
into  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  lives  of  the 
masses.  Such  training  is  regarded  also  as  one  of 
the  best  means  of  preserving  our  social  democracy. 
Therefore,  although  on  account  of  inherited  wealth 
the  child  may  apparently  be  destined  for  a  life  of 
comparative  ease,  even  then  there  is  every  justifi- 
cation for  teaching  him  early  how  to  work  as  if  he 
must  do  so  to  earn  his  own  living.  Much  more  will 
be  said  about  this  point  later. 

3.  Moral  strength.  —  In  the  construction  of  a  good 
life,  moral  strength  must  be  estimated  as  one  of  the 
important  foundation  stones.  But  this  quality  is  not 
so  much  a  gift  of  nature  or  an  inheritance  as  it  is  an 
acquisition.  It  cannot  be  bought  or  acquired  through 
merely  hearing  about  it,  but  it  must  come  as  a  result 
of  a  large  number  of  experiences  of  trial  and  error. 
The  child  acquires  moral  self-reliance  from  the  prac- 
tice of  overcoming  temptation  in  proportion  to  his 
strength,  the  test  being  made  heavier  as  fast  as  his 
ability  to  withstand  temptation  increases.  As  will 
be  shown  later,  it  proves  weakening  to  the  charac- 
ter of  the  growing  child  to  keep  him  entirely  free 
from  temptation  and  the  possible  contamination  of 


What  is  a  Good  Life?  5 

his    character    in    order    that    he    may    grow    up 
"good." 

4.  Social  efficiency.  —  The  good  life  is  not  merely 
self-sustaining  in  an  economic  way,  but  it  is  also 
trained  in  the  performance  of  altruistic  deeds.  In 
building  up  the  lives  of  the  young  it  will  be  nec- 
essary and  most  helpful  to  think  of  the  matter  of 
social  efficiency.  Therefore,  it  will  be  seen  to  that  the 
child  have  practice  in  assuming  the  leadership  among 
his  fellows,  in  taking  the  initiative  on  many  little 
occasions,  and  in  some  instances  to  the  extent  of 
standing  out  against  the  combined  sentiment  of  his 
young  associates.  Of  course,  during  all  this  time  he 
will  be  backed  strongly  by  the  advice  and  the  insistent 
direction  of  his  parents,  the  idea  being  to  induce  him 
to  think  out  his  own  social  problems  and  to  carry 
forward  any  suitable  plans  of  a  social  nature  that  he 
may  devise. 

5.  Religious  interest.  —  Few  parents  will  deny 
that  religious  instruction  is  just  as  essential  to  the 
development  of  a  good  society  as  is  intellectual 
instruction.  Indeed,  there  is  much  evidence  to  bear 
out  the  conviction  that  religion  is  a  deep  and  per- 
manent instinct  in  all  normal  human  beings.  This 
being  the  case,  it  is  fair  to  say  that  such  an  instinct 
should  have  some  form  of  awakening  and  indulgence 
in  the  life  of  the  child.  However,  there  is  no  thought 
or  intention  of  prescribing  any  particular  form  of 
religious  faith.     He  might  at  least  be  sent  to  Sunday 


6  Building  a  Good  Life 

school  and  to  church  regularly  where  he  may  be 
led  to  do  a  small  amount  of  religious  thinking  on 
his  own  account. 

6.  Happiness.  —  The  good  life  is  a  happy  life. 
But  nearly  all  the  students  of  human  problems  seem 
to  think  that  happiness  eludes  the  grasp  of  the  one 
who  seeks  it  in  a  direct  way.  "I  want  my  children 
to  be  happy  and  enjoy  life,"  is  often  the  remark 
of  well-meaning  parents.  They  then  proceed  as  if 
joy  and  happiness  could  be  had  for  money.  It  is 
true  that  during  his  early  years  of  indifference  to  any 
serious  concern  or  personal  responsibility,  the  child 
may  be  made  extremely  happy  by  giving  him  prac- 
tically everything  his  childish  appetites  may  call  for 
and  allowing  him  to  grow  up  in  idleness.  But  there 
comes  a  time  when  the  normal  individual  begins  to 
question  his  own  personal  and  intrinsic  worth.  The 
instincts  and  desires  of  mature  life  come  on  and  if 
there  be  not  available  the  means  for  the  realization 
of  the  better  instinctive  ambitions,  then  bitterness 
and  woe  are  likely  to  become  one's  permanent  por- 
tion. 

However,  it  may  be  put  down  as  a  certainty  that 
happiness  and  contentment  will  naturally  come  in 
full  measure  into  the  life  that  has  been  well  built 
during  the  years  of  childhood  and  youth.  If  the 
good  health  has  been  conserved,  a  life  of  usefulness 
and  service  prepared  for,  moral  strength  built  into 
the  character,  social  efficiency  looked  after  continu- 


The  Human  Stock  Sound  7 

ously,  and  something  of  religious  experience  not 
neglected  —  it  will  most  certainly  follow  as  the  day 
follows  the  night  that  the  wholesome  enjoyments 
and  the  durable  satisfactions  of  living  will  come  to 
such  an  individual. 

Is   THE  HUMAN   STOCK   COMPARATIVELY   SOUND? 

There  are  now  among  the  students  of  the  home 
problems  many  who  are  seriously  interested  in  the 
matter  of  breeding  a  better  human  stock.  Many 
noteworthy  conclusions  have  already  been  reached, 
and  ample  proofs  have  been  produced  to  show 
that  the  human  animal  follows  the  same  general 
lines  of  evolution  as  do  the  lower  animal  orders.  It 
is  shown  in  general,  for  example,  that  little  or  noth- 
ing that  man  has  learned  or  acquired  during  his  life 
is  transmitted  to  his  offspring.  That  is,  even  though 
a  man  devote  many  years  to  the  intensive  study  of 
music  or  mathematics  or  the  languages,  such  study 
will  not  affect  the  ability  of  his  child  in  the  study  of 
the  specialized  subject.  The  same  unaffected  result 
obtains  in  respect  to  any  other  form  of  expertness 
of  the  merely  acquired  sort.  For  example,  the  fact 
that  a  man  through  long  practice  becomes  expert 
in  the  use  of  the  typewriter  does  not  affect  the  char- 
acter of  the  child  in  respect  to  such  ability.  It  is  a 
no  less  difficult  task  for  the  child  to  learn  to  master 
the  use  of  the  typewriter  keyboard. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  shown  very  conclusively 


8  Building  a  Good  Life 

that  physical  and  mental  characters  inborn  in  the 
life  of  a  parent  tend  at  all  times  to  be  transmitted 
to  the  child,  although  many  traits  are  known  to  be 
wanting  in  the  first  generation  of  children  and  to 
appear  in  the  second  or  successive  generations.  Ac- 
cording to  the  law  of  Mendel,  the  traits  of  the  parents 
are  transmitted  to  the  child  about  as  follows :  one- 
half  of  the  elements  of  one's  physical  and  mental 
natures  are  inherited  from  his  parents,  one-fourth 
from  his  grandparents,  one-eighth  from  his  great- 
grandparents,  and  so  on.  In  any  given  case,  how- 
ever, there  might  be  great  variation  from  this  rule 
of  the  averages,  just  as  actual  men  and  women  vary 
more  or  less  widely  from  the  average  human  height 
of  so  many  feet  and  inches. 

There  is  no  thought  here  of  discussing  the  intricate 
problems  of  eugenics.  The  purpose  of  this  brief 
dogmatic  sketch  is  that  of  attempting  to  induce 
parents  to  believe  that  the  great  mass  of  our  Ameri- 
can-born children  are  comparatively  sound  in  their 
physical  and  mental  inheritances.  The  patholo- 
gists profess  to  be  able  to  prove  that  nature  is  most 
kind  to  the  new-born  child  in  respect  to  inheritance 
of  disease.  In  fact,  it  is  shown  that  very  few  dis- 
eases are  directly  transmitted  through  the  blood, 
and  that  many  once  so  regarded  are  now  found  to 
be  infectious  in  their  natures.  There  is  considerable 
indication,  however,  that  the  children  of  the  diseased 
—  tuberculous    parents,   for    example,  —  inherit  a 


Origin  of  Leaders  9 

weakened  power  of  resistance  for  such  disease.  But 
this  matter  is  somewhat  foreign  to  our  present  dis- 
cussion. 

Best  of  all,  for  our  present  consideration,  is  the 
great  mass  of  evidence  sustaining  the  theory  that 
about  ninety-nine  per  cent  of  our  new-born  infants 
are  potentially  good  in  an  economic  and  moral  sense. 
That  is  to  say,  this  great  majority  of  the  young 
humanity  have  latent  within  their  natures  at  the 
beginning  of  life  the  possibilities  of  development 
into  sound,  self-reliant  manhood  and  womanhood. 

So,  the  writer  of  these  lines  would  gladly  lead  rural 
parents  to  the  point  of  being  very  courageous  and 
optimistic  about  their  infant  children.  He  would 
have  them  see  in  the  latter  all  the  possibilities  of 
good  and  efficiency  that  they  may  care  to  attempt 
to  bring  out  by  thoughtful  and  conscientious  train- 
ing. For  that  matter,  it  can  be  shown  that  many  of 
the  leaders  of  men  are  constantly  springing  up  out 
of  the  ranks  of  the  common  masses  and  from 
those  of  humble  parentage.  Some  of  these  great 
leaders,  it  is  true,  are  what  may  be  called  accidental 
geniuses  in  respect  to  their  native  strength  and  their 
persistent  life  purposes.  But  many  others,  and 
perhaps  the  majority  of  them,  are  merely  men  and 
women  who  have  been  reasonably  sound  at  birth 
and  who  have  been  trained  from  childhood  to  matu- 
rity in  a  manner  that  best  served  to  build  up  strong, 
efficient  character. 


10  Building  a  Good  Life 

REFERENCES 

The  references  given  at  the  close  of  each  chapter  are  meant  to  direct 

the  reader  to  specific  treatment  of  the  topics  named.     It  is  thought 

that  nearly  every  chapter  or  book  referred  to  will  be  found  helpful  and 

instructive  to  such  persons  as  may  naturally  become  interested  in  this 

volume.    In  some  instances  a  line  of  comment  is  given  to  make  clearer 

the  contents  of  the  reference. 

Must  Children  have  Children's  Diseases?  Newton.  Ladies'  Home 
Journal,  April,  1910. 

Dietetic  and  Hygienic  Gazette.  Gazette  Publishing  Company,  New 
York.     $1  per  year,  monthly. 

The  Miracle  of  Life.  J.  H.  Kellogg,  M.D.  Good  Health  Publishing 
Company,  Battle  Creek,  Mich.  Read  especially  pp.  363-388, 
"  How  to  be  Strong." 

Our  Duty  to  Posterity.     Editorial.     The  Independent,  February,  1909. 

Relation  of  Science  to  Man.  Professor  A.  W.  Small.  American  Journal 
of  Sociology,  February,  1908. 

Character  Building.  Marian  M.  George.  A.  Flanagan  Company. 
Treats  the  ethical  problems  of  the  home. 

Through  Boyhood  to  Manhood.  Ennis  Richmond.  Chapter  I,  "Use- 
fulness."    Longmans. 

Making  the  Most  of  Our  Children.  Mary  Wood-Allen,  M.D.  Chapter 
IX,  "Keeping  the  Boy  on  the  Farm."     McCIurg. 

Youth.  G.  Stanley  Hall.  Chapter  XII,  "Moral  and  Religious  Train- 
ing."   Appleton. 

The  Contents  of  a  Boy.  E.L.Moore.  Chapter  VI,  "Social  Interests." 
Jennings  &  Graham,  Cincinnati. 

Mind  in  the  Making.  E.  J.  Swift.  Chapter  II,  "The  Criminal  Natures 
of  Boys."    Scribners. 

The  Young  Malefactor.  Dr.  Thomas  Travis.  Chapter  II,  "The  Child 
born  Centuries  Too  Late."     Crowell. 

The  Family  Health.  M.  Solis-Cohen,  M.D.  Chapter  I,  "The  Preserva- 
tion of  Health."     Penn  Publishing  Company,  Philadelphia. 

The  Durable  Satisfactions  of  Life.  Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot.  Crowell. 
Points  out  ably  the  higher  way. 

The  Study  of  Children.     Francis  Warner,  M.D.     Chapter  IV,  "Observ- 


Literature  on  Building  a  Good  Life  11 

ing  the  Child.     What  to  Look  at   and  For."     The   Macmillan 

Company. 
What  makes  a  Liberal  Education.    Editorial.     The  Independent,  July  1, 

1909. 
Relation  of  the  Physical  Nature  of  the  Child  to  His  Mental  and  Moral 

Development.     George  W.  Reed.    Annual  Report  National  Educa- 

tional  Association,  1909,  p.  305. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  TIME  TO  BUILD 

We  shall  continue  to  assume  that  the  reader,  if  a 
parent,  is  thinking  of  his  child  as  being  in  the  posi- 
tion of  one  whose  character  requires  constant  atten- 
tion in  order  that  it  may  be  built  up  through  the 
right  sort  of  training  and  the  right  sort  of  practices. 
Just  as  certainly  as  there  is  a  best  time  in  the  season 
to  plow  corn  and  also  a  time  not  to  plow,  as  there  is 
a  time  to  plow  deep  and  another  time  to  plow  shal- 
low, so  there  is  unquestionably  a  best  time  to  give 
the  child  any  particular  form  of  training  or  to  with- 
hold it.  In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  the  most 
effective  training  in  respect  to  the  human  young  is 
that  which  centers  most  closely  around  the  childish 
interests  and  instincts. 

What  of  the  human  instincts 

By  observing  critically  for  a  few  days  the  conduct 
of  an  infant  child,  one  may  notice  two  or  three  pro- 
nounced instincts  at  work  producing  helpful  results 
in  the  little  life. 

1.  There  is  the  instinct  to  nurse,  which  is  so  funda- 
mental in  securing  the  food  with  which  to  sustain 
and  build  up  the  body. 

12 


The  Instincts  13 

2.  There  is  the  accessory  instinct  of  crying,  also 
often  necessary  as  nature's  signal  for  another  intake 
of  the  food  supply.  Associated  with  these  two  in- 
stincts are  a  number  of  reflexes  which  take  care  of 
the  important  organic  processes,  such  as  digestion, 
assimilation,  and  excretion.  Now,  we  have  prac- 
tically all  there  is  to  the  "character"  of  the  human 
infant.  He  has,  as  yet,  no  instinct  for  fighting,  for 
sexual  love,  or  for  business.  And  any  effort  to  arouse 
and  make  use  of  the  last-named  dormant  qualities 
would  be  futile  as  well  as  ridiculous.  In  respect  to  a 
vast  majority  of  the  things  to  be  learned,  the  child 
is  a  mere  bundle  of  potentialities,  all  of  which  must 
bide  their  time  for  an  awakening.  In  short,  wise 
parents  soon  learn  that  the  center  of  life  in  the  infant 
child  is  in  the  stomach,  and  that  if  he  be  fed  rightly, 
kept  much  in  the  open  air,  clothed  comfortably,  and 
bathed  frequently,  the  body-building  processes  will 
usually  go  on  in  a  satisfactory  manner. 

3.  Although  the  little  life  seems  so  tiny  and  the 
daily  round  of  infantile  activities  so  simple  and  mo- 
notonous, the  character-developing  processes  are  al- 
ready making  their  subtle  beginnings.  For  example, 
the  first  lessons  in  habit  are  being  inculcated  through 
the  comparative  rhythm  in  the  infant's  life.  It  will 
be  found  both  conducive  to  good  health  and  helpful 
to  character-development  to  attend  to  all  the  infant's 
needs  with  strict  regularity.  Let  us  follow  the  new- 
born child  around  his  little  cycle  and  see  what  hap- 


14  The  Time  to  Build 

pens.  First,  he  is  given  a  hearty  meal,  which  is 
followed  at  once  by  perhaps  two  hours  of  profound 
sleep.  Then,  there  is  a  gradual  waking,  the  body 
writhes  and  wiggles  slightly,  and  then  more,  and  then 
still  more,  until  a  loud  cry  is  set  up.  Under  healthy 
conditions  the  crying  should  go  on  for  a  very  few 
minutes,  as  it  helps  to  send  the  good  blood  through 
every  part  of  the  body,  purifying  and  building  up 
the  parts  and  carrying  out  the  effete  matter.  The 
function  of  excretion  is  not  only  thus  much  aided, 
but  the  nervous  equilibrium  is  completely  restored. 
The  little  life  has  now  swung  completely  round  to 
the  beginning  point  of  two  hours  previously  and  it  is 
ready  to  start  on  another  journey  with  the  intake 
of  another  hearty  meal. 

It  will  be  found  that  the  life  circle  described  above 
continues  with  slight  variations  for  the  first  few  weeks, 
the  child  sleeping  probably  twenty  to  twenty-two 
hours  out  of  twenty-four,  if  it  be  in  a  natural  state 
of  health.  But  slowly  the  conduct  of  the  infant  will 
become  more  complex,  and  that  in  response  to  the 
growths  and  changes  taking  place  within  his  body. 
It  will  be  found  that  he  can  take  a  heartier  meal, 
can  stay  awake  longer,  kick  harder,  wriggle  more,  and 
cry  louder  as  the  days  multiply.  In  a  month  or  so 
his  eyes  will  be  seen  following  some  brilliant  or  attrac- 
tive moving  body,  while  the  impulsive  movements 
of  the  hands  will  begin  to  suggest  some  slight  defini- 
tion of  their  conduct.    Not  long  thereafter,  the  baby 


Instincts  and  Learning  15 

smile  will  break  out  in  a  reflex  fashion  and  the  hands 
will  likewise  grasp  objects  placed  in  the  little  palms. 
Coordinate  with  these  new  activities,  nature  is  at 
work  storing  up  new  nerve  structures  and  cells,  es- 
pecially in  the  region  of  the  spinal  cord  and  the  cranial 
centers. 

4.  The  child  is  all  the  while  learning.  As  yet, 
there  is  little  for  the  caretaker  to  do  other  than  to 
feed  the  infant  with  exceeding  care  and  regularity, 
and  to  enjoy  the  awakening  of  the  new  infant  ac- 
tivities. In  four  to  six  months,  the  young  learner 
will  lead  a  much  more  complex  life,  —  sitting  alone, 
holding  things  in  his  hands,  and  looking  about  the 
room.  But  it  must  be  understood  that  he  still  hears 
and  sees  very  few  things  in  a  definite  way.  Then, 
in  the  next  two  or  three  months  he  will  first  creep,  — 
he  should  in  time  be  induced  to  do  so  if  possible  for 
the  sake  of  his  health,  —  at  length  he  will  stand  up- 
right, and  finally  walk.  None  of  these  processes 
must  be  hastened,  although  they  may  be  aided  when 
the  inner  prompting  and  strength  warrant  such 
conduct. 

5.  During  the  second  year  there  will  probably 
break  out  with  sudden  and  surprising  strength  the 
new  instinct  of  anger.  It  has  been  latent  there  all 
the  time,  but  the  low  degree  of  intelligence  and  of 
nerve  structure  has  not  given  it  proper  support  and 
indulgence.  But  on  an  occasion  there  is  perhaps 
taken  from  the  child  some  cherished  plaything,  when 


16  The  Time  to  Build 

he  suddenly  flies  into  a  rage,  yelling,  screaming, 
kicking,  and  growing  red  in  the  face.  This  outburst 
of  rage  is  a  most  interesting  and  enjoyable  aspect 
to  the  parent  who  rightly  understands  children, 
although  some  ignorantly  make  it  a  matter  of  deep 
concern,  regarding  it  as  significant  of  a  vicious  char- 
acter in  the  coming  boy  and  man. 

The  purpose  of  this  present  discussion  is  to  illus- 
trate how  the  human  instincts  come  into  their  func- 
tions at  various  times  during  the  life  of  the  growing 
child.  And  the  further  purpose  is  to  urge  that  such 
thing  be  watched  for  and  met  with  just  the  sort  of  train- 
ing necessary  for  permanent  and  helpful  results. 

Now,  let  the  little  child  fly  into  a  rage  two  or  three 
times  and  have  his  anger  appeased  through  indul- 
gence in  the  thing  he  cries  for,  and  he  has  acquired 
his  first  lesson  in  the  management  of  the  parent  or 
nurse.  He  has  learned  that  if  he  wants  a  thing,  all 
he  needs  to  do  is  to  squall  or  yell  and  the  desired 
results  will  be  forthcoming.  But  this  childish  rage 
really  furnishes  the  occasion  for  the  beginning  of  some 
disciplinary  lessons.  "Should  I  give  the  child  every- 
thing he  cries  for,  or  withhold  the  desired  object 
until  he  quits?"  asks  an  anxious  parent.  Neither 
rule  is  necessarily  the  right  one,  and  yet  both,  on 
occasions,  may  be  correct.  Suppose,  instead  of  the 
infant  you  have  a  five-year-old  boy  who  cries  for  a 
loaded  revolver  he  happens  to  see  in  your  hand. 
Would  you  give  it  to  him  to  stop  his  crying,  or  with- 


Anger  May  be  Helpful  17 

hold  it  ?  Suppose  again  he  should  cry  for  the  return 
of  his  own  plaything  which  some  one  unjustly  snatched 
from  him.  Would  you  return  his  plaything  to  stop 
his  crying,  or  let  him  cry  it  out?  Now,  here  is  im- 
plied the  correct  answer  in  dealing  with  the  outburst 
of  anger  in  the  infant.  It  is  all  a  matter  of  justice 
and  fairness.  If  some  agency,  human  or  otherwise, 
snatches  his  food  from  his  mouth,  and  the  child 
squalls  for  its  return,  indulge  the  infant  at  once. 
If  he  has  been  well  fed,  comfortably  clad  and  bathed, 
and  under  every  proper  consideration  should  lie 
still  and  behave  himself,  then  do  not  run  and  take 
him  up  because  he  happens  to  be  trying  your  patience 
with  his  squalling.  Hold  him  to  it  and  let  him  bawl 
it  out.  There  is  really  nothing  better  coming  to  him 
if  you  are  thinking  of  the  development  of  his  char- 
acter —  and  your  own. 

6.  So,  somewhat  later  on  you  will  find  this  same 
instinct  of  anger  showing  itself  in  the  various  forms 
of  fighting  and  quarreling.  The  parent  who  under- 
stands the  true  natures  of  healthy  children  will  not 
worry  for  a  moment  because  the  children  show  natural 
dispositions  for  contention  and  combativeness.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  will  be  understood  that  these  very 
tendencies  furnish  the  occasion  of  many  a  lesson  in 
social  ethics.  How  can  the  child  ever  learn  to  be 
just  and  fair  to  his  mates  or  square  and  considerate 
in  his  dealings  with  adults  unless  it  be  through  the 
give-and-take  experiences  that  come  from  attempt- 


18  The  Time  to  Build 

ing  to  get  more  than  his  share,  —  and  failing  much 
of  the  time,  —  and  from  attempting  to  over-ride  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  others,  and  having  such  at- 
tempts properly  thwarted?  Indeed,  it  may  be  re- 
garded as  a  great  misfortune  to  the  child  if  he  has  to 
grow  up  as  the  only  one  in  a  home  and  is  denied  the 
daily  companionship  of  those  of  his  own  age  from 
whom  he  may  learn  justice  and  fairness  as  a  result 
of  his  attempts  to  get  more  than  is  just  and  fair  for 
himself. 

7.  The  watchful  parents  will  observe  that  perhaps 
some  time  during  the  second  half  year,  and  with 
some  pronounced  repetitions  later,  there  will  be  clear 
manifestations  of  the  instinct  of  fear  on  the  part  of 
the  child.  Again,  there  is  nothing  for  deep  concern 
other  than  to  meet  this  instinct  in  a  general  way  as 
has  been  observed  for  the  others  named  and  to  give 
the  proper  training.  Fear  must  have  been  a  human 
necessity  during  many  years  of  savagery  and  bar- 
barism. It  still  has  its  positive  and  negative  values 
in  the  development  of  character.  It  serves  as  a  de- 
terrent from  dangerous  and  criminal  acts.  It  is  also 
found  to  deter  the  growing  infant  from  doing  many 
a  thing  which  he  ought  to  be  learning  to  do.  Fear 
shows  its  most  interesting  aspects  in  the  form  of  what 
has  been  called  social  sensitiveness;  that  is,  bash- 
fulness,  shyness,  reticence,  and  the  like. 

Parents  should  by  all  means  watch  closely  the 
various  childish  and   youthful  tendencies  to  fear, 


Fear  to  be  Eliminated  19 

allowing  those  fears  which  promise  to  be  helpful  to 
remain  in  the  life  or  to  die  out  slowly  through  coun- 
teracting conduct ;  and  eliminating  those  other  forms 
which  would  seem  to  serve  no  useful  purpose.  Ex- 
amples of  the  latter  sort  would  be  the  fear  of  ferocious 
animals  and  of  murderers.  Such  mortal  enemies  are 
so  uncommon  in  this  civilized  land  that  fear  of  them 
will  probably  be  of  no  service  to  life.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  may  stunt  and  deter  the  development  of 
courage.  Especially  do  such  fears  tend  to  induce 
the  habit  of  unnecessary  concern  and  deep  worry, 
thus  destroying  the  peace  and  happiness  and  cutting 
off  the  length  of  years  of  many  members  of  our  so- 
ciety. 

8.  There  is  no  questioning  the  value  of  social 
sensitiveness  in  respect  to  the  development  of  char- 
acter in  the  young.  Some  degree  of  bashfulness  and 
embarrassment  in  dealing  with  people,  especially 
those  regarded  by  him  as  of  superior  worth,  may  be 
considered  an  actual  asset  in  the  life  of  the  growing 
boy.  This  bashfulness  will  give  him  a  rich  inner 
experience  of  doubts  and  fears,  and  of  hopes  and 
triumphs.  Slowly,  under  proper  guidance  and  direc- 
tion, the  sensitiveness  wears  away  through  repeated 
experience  of  a  contrary  sort,  and  such  qualities  as 
create  a  self-reliance  take  its  place. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  doubtless  a  misfortune, 
especially  for  the  boy,  to  become  blase  —  indifferent 
and  unembarrassed  in  the  presence  of  people  of  all 


20  The  Time  to  Build 

ranks  and  conditions  —  while  he  is  yet  a  mere  lad. 
Under  our  present  organization  of  society,  the  boy 
who  would  win  the  life  race  must  have  much  experi- 
ence of  trial  and  error,  of  failure  and  success,  and  of 
tribulation  and  triumph ;  and  all  that  for  the  sake  of 
a  self-reliant  character.  Now,  the  boy  who  has  lost 
all  sense  of  embarrassment  in  the  presence  of  others 
is  likely  to  be  denied  the  stirring  inner  experiences 
just  named,  and  to  settle  down  in  an  indifferent,  self- 
satisfied  attitude  toward  the  big  problems  of  human 
conduct.  It  may  be  counted,  therefore,  as  an  indi- 
cation of  much  promise  and  advantage  that  the 
country  youth  and  the  country  maiden  continue  to 
be  comparatively  "green"  and  bashful  during  the 
period  of  their  adolescence. 

9.  The  instinct  of  sexual  love  will  manifest  itself 
at  the  proper  time  and  age.  Before  so  doing,  cer- 
tain organic  changes  and  inner  nerve  developments 
must  take  place.  Parents  may  learn  some  lessons 
from  observation  of  this  instinct  that  will  apply  to 
practically  all  the  others.  For  example,  there  should 
be  no  attempt  to  hurry  the  manifestation  and  the 
functioning  of  the  instinct,  nor  should  the  training 
necessary  for  its  development  and  refinement  be 
denied  or  withheld.  Of  all  the  many  inner  awaken- 
ings that  come  to  the  developing  human  being,  there 
is  probably  none  that  quite  matches  the  surging 
energy  of  sexual  love  in  healthy  young  manhood 
and  womanhood.     And  to  an  extraordinary  degree, 


Sex  Love  latent  with  Good  21 

opportunities  for  instruction  and  development  of 
the  character  become  present  at  this  time. 

First  of  all,  parents  need  to  be  reminded  of  the 
naturalness  and  wholesomeness  of  the  sex  instincts 
in  adolescent  boys  and  girls.  They  must  be  urged 
to  provide  carefully  for  its  natural  growth  through 
the  proper  commingling  of  the  sexes  in  a  social  way, 
and  yet  there  must  be  preserved  in  the  young  lives 
just  enough  strangeness  and  mystery  about  the  sex 
matters  as  to  indulge  the  poetic  and  the  romantic 
aspects  of  the  unfolding  natures.  It  need  not, 
therefore,  be  a  matter  of  worry  and  unusual  concern 
to  parents  if  their  fifteen-year-old  son  and  a  neigh- 
bor's thirteen-year-old  daughter  show  pronounced 
tendencies  to  be  "crazy  in  love"  with  each  other. 
However,  this  situation  furnishes  most  fitting  oppor- 
tunities for  teaching  the  boy  courtly  manners,  gal- 
lantry, consideration  for  women  of  all  ages;  and 
that  through  and  by  means  of  his  own  personal  ex- 
perience. In  fact,  this  stirring  period  of  sex-love 
opens  up  in  the  mind  of  the  boy  reflections  that  tend 
to  run  out  into  every  possible  avenue  of  his  future  life. 

Likewise,  the  girl.  That  same  little  girl  who 
shortly  ago  hated  boys  and  declared  she  would  never 
have  anything  to  do  with  them  is  now  manifesting 
much  interest  in  the  youth  of  her  acquaintance.  This 
thing  cannot  be  laughed  to  scorn,  or  scolded  away, 
or  whipped  out  of  the  life  of  either  boy  or  girl.  Its 
roots  are  in  the  sex  organs  as  well  as  in  the  heart. 


22  The  Time  to  Build 

This  first  love  period  furnishes  the  rarest  opportuni- 
ties for  teaching  the  girl  proper  lessons  in  respect  to 
her  comeliness,  her  purity  of  thought,  and  the  sweet- 
ness of  her  own  personal  character.  If  during  this 
time  she  be  withheld  entirely  from  wholesome  asso- 
ciation with  boys  and  young  men,  there  is  a  probabil- 
ity that  she  may  become  a  drone  or  a  mope,  and 
especially  that  she  may  lose  valuable  training  in  the 
acquisition  of  those  winsome  ways  so  helpful  to  young 
women  in  the  matter  of  their  obtaining  suitable  life 
companions. 

Perhaps  less  need  be  said  in  respect  to  giving  the 
growing  son  those  forms  of  social  training  which 
make  it  possible  for  him  to  win  to  his  side  an  attrac- 
tive helpmate.  But  beyond  the  question  of  a  doubt 
there  can  and  should  be  much  done  by  way  of  train- 
ing the  daughter  in  this  respect.  In  addition  to  her 
good  health,  her  moral  self-reliance,  and  those  other 
desirable  qualities  illustrated  in  a  preceding  para- 
graph, the  young  woman  who  is  thoroughly  prepared 
for  meeting  successfully  the  issues  of  life  has  had  care- 
ful training  in  all  the  practices  that  refine  and  beau- 
tify her  character. 

This  duty  of  rural  parents  to  the  growing  daughter 
is  no  less  imperative  than  in  the  case  of  city  parents. 
It  may  be  considered  as  an  excellent  way  of  planning 
for  the  future  happiness  and  well-being,  not  merely 
for  one,  but  doubtless  for  an  entire  family,  if  the 
growing  girl  be  indulged  and  directed  reasonably  in 


Instinct  for  Home  Life  23 

social  matters  during  this  period  of  greatest  strength 
of  her  natural  sex  instinct.  This  thing  cannot  be 
safely  put  off  a  few  years  with  the  thought  that  the 
family  will  move  to  town  and  then  the  girl  may  have 
her  proper  opportunities  of  training.  After  such 
procrastination  and  neglect,  it  becomes  too  late  ever 
to  correct  the  many  faults  of  omission. 

10.  There  develops  somewhat  late  in  the  lives  of 
young  men  and  young  women  what  might  be  called 
the  "homing"  instinct,  which  amounts  to  nothing 
other  than  a  deep  and  pronounced  prompting  from 
within  to  set  definitely  about  the  matter  of  getting 
into  a  home  of  one's  own  and  providing  for  and 
building  it  up.  This  is  different  from  the  mere  sex 
instinct  named  above,  although  perhaps  an  out- 
growth of  it.  It  must  be  noted  in  passing  that  this 
homing  instinct,  when  at  its  strongest,  furnishes  the 
proper  occasion  for  instruction  in  respect  to  the  home 
and  the  home-building  affairs.  Happy  indeed  is  the 
young  man  or  the  young  woman  who,  after  a  period 
of  such  instruction,  may  have  the  opportunity  of  set- 
tling down  in  a  suitable  dwelling  place  and  there  be- 
ginning the  establishment  of  the  ideal  family  life. 

11.  Unquestionably  there  dawns  in  the  life  of 
normal  young  men  —  and  perhaps  to  a  milder  degree 
in  respect  to  young  women  —  a  pronounced  instinct 
of  a  business  and  economic  sort.  This  inner  prompt- 
ing is  doubtless  associated  with  the  two  last  named. 
It  may  be  observed  by  any  person  who  knows  how 


24  The  Time  to  Build 

to  study  the  lives  of  children  and  young  people  that 
some  particular  youth  who  a  few  months  ago  was 
a  spendthrift,  indifferent  of  his  future  needs  and  wel- 
fare, is  now  heard  to  declare  emphatically  again  and 
again  that  he  must  get  into  business,  must  save  and 
invest  his  means  and  provide  for  his  future  needs. 
So,  there  is  not  a  little  evidence  in  effect  that  we  have 
here  another  inner  development  of  the  nerve  mech- 
anism. And  the  time  is  most  fit  and  opportune  for 
the  parents  to  exhaust  every  reasonable  effort  to  dis- 
cover what  the  youth  is  best  suited  for  as  a  life  prac- 
tice and  to  guide  him  on  toward  the  realization  of 
that  purpose.  Much  more  will  be  said  in  another 
chapter  in  respect  to  the  choice  of  a  vocation. 

REFERENCES 

Rural  parents  who  develop  an  intensive  interest  in  the  child-training 
problems  will  find  it  most  profitable  to  read  somewhat  extensively  in  the 
texts  that  are  not  too  direct  but  that  give  a  careful  treatment  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  child  psychology.  King's  and  O'Shea's  books 
listed  below  are  of  this  special  character.     For  a  fuller  list,  see  Chapter  VI. 

The  Child :  A  Study  in  the  Evolution  of  Man.  A.  F.  Chamberlain. 
Chapter  IV,  "The  Period  of  Childhood."  Scribner.  A  sound  and 
somewhat  scholarly  treatment. 

Boy  Wanted.  Nixon  Waterman.  Chapter  I,  "The  Awakening"; 
Chapter  II,  "  Am  I  a  Genius  ?  "     Forbes  &  Co.,  Chicago. 

Education  of  the  Central  Nervous  System.  Reuben  P.  Halleck.  Chap- 
ter VII,  "Special  Sensory  Training."    American  Book  Company. 

The  Moral  Life.  Arthur  E.  Davies.  Chapter  V,  "Motive:  The  Be- 
ginnings of  Morality."    Review  Publishing  Company,  Baltimore. 

Psychology.  J.  R.  Angell.  Chapter  XVI,  "The  Important  Human 
Instincts."    Holt. 


Literature  on  the  Time  to  Build  25 

Essentials  of  Psychology.  W.  B.  Pillsbury.  Chapter  X,  "Instinct." 
Macmillan.  Rural  parents  will  find  this  entire  text  a  non-technical 
and  fundamental  help. 

Development  and  Education.  M.  V.  O'Shea.  Chapter  XII,  "The 
Critical  Period."    Houghton,  Mifflin  Company. 

Psychology  of  Child  Development.  Irving  King.  Chapter  on  "In- 
stinct."    University  of  Chicago  Press. 

Your  Boy:  His  Nature  and  Nurture.  George  A.  Dickinson,  M.D. 
Chapter  II,  "Elements  of  Character."  Hodder  &  Stoughton,  New 
York. 

An  Introduction  to  Child  Study.  W.  B.  Drummond.  Chapter  XII, 
"  The  Instincts  of  Children  " ;  Chapter  XIII,  "  Instincts  and  Habit." 
Longmans.     The  book  is  worthy  an  entire  reading. 

A  Study  of  Child  Nature.  Elizabeth  Harrison.  Chapter  I,  "The  In- 
stinct of  Activity."     Chicago  Kindergarten  College. 

Observing  Childhood.  A.  S.  Draper.  Annals  American  Academy, 
March,  1909. 

Are  we  spoiling  our  Boys  who  have  the  Best  Chances  in  Life  ?  Henry 
van  Dyke.     Scribner's  Magazine.     October,  1909. 

How  to  civilize  the  Young  Savage.  Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall.  Mind  and 
Body,  June,  1911. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  RURAL  HOME  AND  CHARACTER 
DEVELOPMENT 

That  the  farm  home  is  an  ideal  place  in  which  to 
build  up  the  lives  of  growing  boys  and  girls  has  be- 
come almost  a  trite  saying.  But  that  rural  parents 
are  yet  failing  to  realize  the  child-nurturing  possi- 
bilities of  such  a  place  may  be  exemplified  in  thou- 
sands of  instances.  When  we  point  to  the  farm 
home  as  being  the  best  possible  place  for  rearing  chil- 
dren, we  mean  that  it  contains  all  the  crude  materials 
for  such  work,  and  that  there  must  be  in  charge  of 
that  work  some  one  who  is  conscious  of  the  many 
aspects  of  the  problem.  So  we  hope  to  show  the 
fathers  and  mothers  of  the  farm  community,  not 
what  they  might  do  if  they  were  differently  situated, 
but  as  specifically  as  possible  what  there  is  in  the 
present  rural  home  situation  that  can  be  made 
directly  available  in  the  construction  of  the  lives 
of  their  children. 

What  agencies  build  up  character? 

First  of  all,  we  must  ask,  What  are  the  ordinary 
forces  which  need  to  be  brought  into  service  in  the 

26 


Character-building  Agencies  27 

development  of  children  ?  At  the  head  of  the  list, 
we  should  name  play,  as  furnishing  a  great  variety 
of  instructive  activities ;  then,  work  and  industry ; 
after  that,  the  recreation  that  comes  properly  after 
the  performance  of  work.  So,  we  have  with  all 
their  implied  meanings  the  three  great  child-develop- 
ing agencies :  play,  work,  recreation.  Now  the 
question  naturally  presents  itself,  Can  the  ordinary 
farm  life  be  made  to  furnish  in  right  amount  and 
proportion  these  three  essential  elements  of  charac- 
ter development  ? 

1.  Play.  —  The  necessity  of  indulging  and  training 
properly  the  play  instinct  of  the  child  is  becoming 
so  fully  appreciated  of  late  that  many  of  the  state 
legislatures,  and  even  the  national  Congress,  have 
seen  fit  to  make  it  a  matter  of  deep  concern.  In 
order  that  all  children  may  have  full  exercise  of  the 
divine,  inherent  right  to  play  and  to  learn  through 
play,  many  so-called  child  labor  laws  have  been  passed. 
These  enactments  have  prescribed  conditions  under 
which  children  will  be  permitted  to  work  at  gainful 
occupations,  and  in  the  majority  of  cases  they  have 
strictly  forbidden  such  child  labor  below  the  ages 
of  fourteen  to  sixteen. 

But  the  foregoing  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  young 
have  been  of  a  somewhat  negative  sort,  merely  guar- 
anteeing the  child  the  right  to  play.  On  the  positive 
side,  much  is  also  being  done.  The  scientific  stu- 
dents of  child  life  have  been  pointing  to  the  great 


28    The  Rural  Home  and  Character  Development 

benefits  of  play  and  to  the  present  need  for  larger 
means  and  fuller  opportunities  for  play  on  the  part 
of  the  masses  of  children.  As  an  outcome  of  all  this 
research  and  public  agitation,  there  is  now  in  progress 
a  general  movement  which  looks  to  the  placing  at 
the  disposal  of  children  everywhere  the  equipment 
and  apparatus  necessary  for  building  up  the  charac- 
ter by  means  of  play  experience.  The  large  cities 
are  expending  millions  of  dollars  on  municipal  play- 
grounds, and  the  towns  and  rural  communities  are 
catching  the  spirit  also. 

It  has  been  shown  beyond  a  question  that  adult 
life  can  be  prepared  for  and  enriched  in  many  ways 
by  means  of  scientifically  provided  play  during  child- 
hood. Two  or  three  results  are  especially  sought 
through  the  playground  training:  (1)  better  physical 
health  and  increased  power  to  resist  disease ;  (2)  en- 
larged opportunities  for  the  outlet  of  the  spontaneous 
activities  through  the  use  of  the  hands  and  other 
parts  of  the  body;  (3)  the  provision  of  a  powerful 
deterrent  of  evil  thought  and  deed  and  of  juvenile 
crime;  (4)  the  manifold  opportunities  for  learning 
how  to  get  along  with  one's  fellows  and  to  treat  them 
in  fairness  and  justice. 

It  has  already  been  urged  that  sound  health  con- 
stitutes one  of  the  foundation  stones  of  good  char- 
acter. Play  is  especially  conducive  to  sound  health. 
Some  may  think  that  work  without  much  if  any 
play  will  bring  about  the  same  results  in  the  child 


Plate  III. 


o 

— ' 

= 

- 

•-- 

*j 

a 

r 

-. 

- 

* 

-3     ^ 
S     O 

|  6 

i:  — 


■2=  j 
1  * 

«       C 

2a 


-    — 

3  c 


.2    °   a 


Children  Must  Play  29 

life,  but  such  proves  not  to  be  the  case.  The  mo- 
notony and  drudgery  of  enforced  labor  have  been 
crushing  the  lives  of  children  everywhere,  especially 
until  the  wise  legislation  of  very  recent  years  pre- 
vented such  thing.  Strange  to  say,  the  same 
amount  of  exertion  in  spontaneous  play  may  build 
up  and  strengthen  the  physical  and  mental  life  of 
the  child.  What  is  the  secret  of  the  striking  differ- 
ence in  the  result  ?  Spontaneity !  is  the  answer. 
The  child  goes  at  his  play  with  a  joy  and  an  eagerness 
which  are  entirely  absent  from  work  —  a  sufficient 
guarantee  that  his  nature  is  being  fed  upon  the  very 
stuff  which  his  soul  craves.  It  is  true  that  children 
will  play  in  a  bare  room  containing  nothing  more 
than  a  pile  of  trash,  but  such  a  situation  is  woe- 
fully lacking  on  the  side  of  instruction.  Very 
little  will  be  learned  from  a  year  of  such  ill-provided 
play. 

So,  there  is  every  necessary  reason  for  urging  that 
the  farm  home  provide  not  only  the  time  and  the 
occasion  for  the  play  life  of  the  children,  but  that 
the  means  and  proper  materials  also  be  looked  after. 
At  a  certain  rural  home  in  the  state  of  Michigan, 
where  two  boys  and  one  girl  were  growing  up,  were 
found  the  following  nearly  ideal  arrangements  for 
the  play  life:  a  small  clump  of  trees,  which  afforded 
opportunities  for  climbing  and  ample  shade  during 
the  warm  weather;  a  swing  hung  between  two  of 
the  trees ;  a  pole  serving  as  a  horizontal  bar  between 


30    The  Rural  Home  and  Character  Development 

two  others ;  and  a  ladder  leading  to  a  rude  playhouse 
constructed  between  the  forks  of  a  branching  maple 
tree.  Thereabout  were  seen  also  a  boy's  wagon,  two 
home-made  sleds  and  other  materials  of  this  same 
general  class,  not  to  mention  a  fairly  well-kept  lawn, 
where  the  children  could  romp. 

Now  the  cost  of  all  the  foregoing  materials  would 
be  trifling  in  a  money  sense  and  not  very  expensive 
in  point  of  preparation  and  work,  while  they  would 
pay  for  themselves  a  hundred-fold  in  their  results 
for  character-development.  If  necessary,  it  could 
even  be  shown  how  just  such  provision  for  the  play 
of  the  boys  and  girls  on  the  farm  will  in  time  add  to 
the  actual  cash  value  of  the  place  and  to  the  money- 
earning  power  of  the  boys  and  girls  whose  lives  are 
being  served.  It  seems  altogether  fitting  to  remind 
rural  parents  of  their  duty  in  respect  to  their  children 
even  though  the  mortgage  may  not  yet  have  been 
lifted,  and  even  though  some  of  the  live  stock  may 
have  to  suffer  a  little,  and  some  of  the  farm  crops 
deteriorate  slightly.  Let  there  be  provided,  first  of 
all,  some  adequate  materials  for  the  indulgence  of 
the  play  instinct  of  the  child. 

2.  Work.  —  This  term  implies  a  wide  meaning, 
and  deserves  a  lengthy  discussion.  In  a  chapter  to 
follow  under  the  title  "How  Much  Work  for  the 
Country  Boy,"  we  shall  give  due  attention  to  it. 
The  purpose  here  is  to  advise  the  parent  to  make 
a  study  of  the  situation  and  to  make  provision  for  the 


Work  Distinguished  from  Play  31 

amount  and  kind  of  work  and  industry  necessary 
for  the  proper  culture  of  the  growing  child. 

First  of  all,  there  must  be  appreciated  the  sharp 
distinction  between  work  and  play.  The  latter  is 
spontaneous,  allowing  the  child  to  follow  his  caprice 
of  mind.  He  may  take  up  one  play  activity  and  drop 
it  at  any  moment  that  another  appeals  to  him  more 
strongly.  But  with  work,  the  situation  is  different. 
The  purpose  is  outside  of  and  not  within  the  per- 
formance, as  in  the  case  of  play.  The  work  looks 
toward  some  end  necessary  of  achievement  and  carries 
with  it  the  elements  of  sacrifice,  of  giving  out  of  one's 
life  something  that  is  his  very  own  in  order  that  some 
other  thing  may  be  acquired.  In  the  case  of  work 
the  normal  child  probably  at  first  finds  almost  any 
assigned  task  irksome.  He  feels  that  he  is  being  more 
or  less  unfairly  or  unnecessarily  driven  to  it  and  that 
when  he  grows  to  be  a  man,  he  will  have  a  lot  of  money 
and  hire  somebody  else  to  do  the  work. 

All  natural,  healthy-minded  boys  are  at  first  some- 
what stubborn  and  rebellious  in  regard  to  work. 
No  matter  how  good  their  parents  may  be,  if  merely 
turned  loose  in  the  world  without  direction  and  the 
spur  of  authority,  they  will  almost  invariably  avoid 
manual  labor.  So  it  might  as  well  be  put  down  at 
.once  as  a  rule  that  every  boy  who  is  to  become  a 
real  worker  and  an  industrious  character  must  be 
set  definitely  at  his  tasks  while  a  mere  child  and  held 
strictly  to  their  performance.     After  much  persistent 


32     The  Rural  Home  and  Character  Development 

urging,  the  young  worker  begins  to  forget  the  thought 
of  being  driven  to  his  duty  and  to  acquire  instead 
a  habit  of  industry.  By  slow  degrees  he  develops 
within  a  sense  of  obligation  in  relation  to  work,  also 
a  feeling  of  responsibility  for  tasks  done  or  left  undone. 
Finally,  after  years  of  this  sort  of  experience,  the 
young  industrialist  reaches  a  point  in  his  life  when 
he  can  throw  himself  enthusiastically  into  some  sort 
of  well  chosen  occupation.  And  then  and  there 
emerges  from  his  inner  consciousness  the  exceeding 
great  joy  known  to  so  many  of  the  industrious  men 
and  women  whose  worthy  life-long  devotion  to  work 
is  constantly  reconstructing  this  good  world  in  which 
we  live. 

It  will  be  understood,  of  course,  that  the  term 
work  as  here  used  includes  the  school  training.  The 
ordinary  child  regards  the  appointed  duties  of  lesson 
getting  in  the  nature  of  work  and  feels  the  same  pres- 
sure of  insistence  and  compulsion  in  relation  to  them. 
Unquestionably,  the  ordinary  school  course  goes  part 
way  toward  furnishing  discipline  in  industry.  The 
course  of  the  newer  schools  about  to  be  instituted 
throughout  the  country  will  reach  still  farther  in 
this  direction.  It  is  very  encouraging  indeed  to 
observe  that  the  public  school  curriculum  is  destined 
to  include,  not  only  the  study  of  books  and  the  recita- 
tion of  lessons  learned  from  books,  but  also  the  many 
forms  of  manual  labor  and  industry  applicable  to 
the  character  of  the  growing  child.     But  until  the 


Need  of  Recreation  33 

public  school  authorities  have  provided  such  an 
ideal  course  of  training,  parents  must  see  to  it  that 
the  class-room  duties  be  thoroughly  supplemented 
with  carefully  assigned  home  tasks  of  the  industrial 
training  sort.  In  a  later  chapter  specific  attention 
will  be  given  the  question  of  the  schooling  of  the 
country  boy  and  the  country  girl. 

3.  Recreation.  —  What  a  vast  amount  of  mis-^ 
understanding  and  misuse  there  is  of  this  term  ! 
Observe,  if  you  will,  the  real  meaning  of  the  term  or 
of  the  kindred  word,  to  re-create.  It  implies  in  this 
use  that  the  body  has  been  depleted,  worn  out,  or 
fatigued  by  work  and  that  there  is  to  be  a  rebuilding 
of  the  same.  But  it  is  amusing  —  or  would  be  if  it 
were  not  so  pathetic  —  to  see  how  city  parents  often 
bestir  themselves  in  an  effort  to  provide  recreation  for 
their  idle  boys.  Many  of  these  boys  who  are  seen 
loafing  about  the  home  town  during  practically  the 
entire  summer  vacation  period  are  given  an  outing 
in  order  that  they  may  thus  be  furnished  "recreation" 
—  from  indolence. 

But  farm  parents  are  inclined  to  err  on  the  other 
side.  That  is,  they  tend  to  over-work  their  boys  and 
not  to  give  them  enough  outings  to  furnish  proper 
recreation  and  renewed  zeal  for  the  work  required 
of  them.  Hence,  the  need  of  carefully  considering 
the  matter  of  the  outings  for  the  farm  boy  and  girl. 
It  can  most  probably  be  shown,  for  example,  that 
the  boy  who  works  on  the  farm  five  and  a  half  days  of 


34     The  Rural  Home  and  Character  Development 

the  week  and  who  is  given  the  other  half  day  for  rest 
and  recreation  —  that  he  does  more  work  in  the  five 
and  one-half  days  and  does  it  better  than  he  would 
do  in  six  full  days  without  the  half-holiday.  The 
question  here  is  that  of  a  balanced  schedule.  How 
long  should  the  boy  be  held  to  his  task  before  being 
allowed  a  holiday  or  recreation  period  ? 

Just  how  can  these  half-holidays,  outings,  and  the 
like,  be  worked  into  the  farm  boy's  program  so  as 
to  make  them  contributive  to  the  up-building  of  his 
character  ?  What  of  this  sort  can  be  done  to  cause 
him  to  return  to  his  assigned  tasks  with  greater  zeal 
and  enthusiasm  ?  How  can  it  be  provided  that  the 
boy  may  look  forward  to  these  outings  with  a  thrill 
of  joy  during  the  long  days  he  has  to  spend  behind 
the  plow  or  in  the  harvest  field  ?  Finally,  how  can 
these  recreation  periods,  large  and  small,  be  so  asso- 
ciated with  his  work-a-day  tasks  that  he  may  come 
to  regard  farm  life  as  a  wholesome  type  of  vocation  — 
one  that  he  may  follow  with  pleasure  and  profit  for 
himself,  and  one  in  which  he  may  succeed  so  well  as 
to  make  his  achievements  constitute  a  living  com- 
mendation of  such  a  calling  to  others  ?  In  a  later 
discussion  there  will  be  shown  many  methods  whereby 
the  recreation  experience  of  the  farm  boys  and  girls 
may  be  properly  looked  after. 

Few  persons  seem  to  appreciate  the  value  of  soli- 
tude as  a  means  of  recreating  and  building  up  the 
inner  life.     Probably  one  of  the  greatest  agencies  in 


Value  of  Solitude  35 

the  development  of  many  a  powerful  personality  is 
the  fact  that  its  possessor  was  compelled  by  force  of 
circumstances  while  young  to  spend  much  time  in 
the  company  of  his  or  her  own  thoughts.  It  is  im- 
possible to  think  intelligently  while  one  is  doing  any 
body-straining  work;  for  example,  wood  sawing  or 
hay  pitching.  But  there  are  many  forms  of  occupa- 
tion for  boys  and  girls  on  the  farm  which  permit  of 
comparative  rest  of  the  body.  So  the  foundations 
of  many  a  worthy  career  have  been  laid  in  the  silent 
reflections  of  the  boy  spending  the  day  alone  in  the 
woods  or  on  the  prairies  with  his  cattle  and  dog  and 
pony,  or  sitting  on  the  seat  of  the  riding  plow. 

Likewise,  the  farmer's  daughter,  during  the  per- 
formance of  many  simple,  non-fatiguing  tasks,  re- 
flects perforce  upon  the  larger  meanings  of  life  and 
makes  out  in  mind  many  plans  for  the  time  when 
she  hopes  to  undertake  the  mastery  of  various  trying 
and  interesting  problems.  Lack  of  this  enforced 
solitude  and  its  attendant  reflections  —  lack  of  the 
discovery  of  the  joy  of  being  at  regular  intervals  alone 
with  the  great  soul  of  Nature  and  with  one's  inner 
consciousness  —  doubtless  contributes  in  some  meas- 
ure to  the  undoing  of  city  boys  and  girls.  The  con- 
stant turmoil  of  the  street,  the  excitement  of  the 
ever  changing  scenes  and  situations,  give  an  over- 
indulgence to  the  senses,  ripen  the  judgments 
too  early,  and  rob  the  character  of  those  soberer 
habits  which  later  enable  one  to  find  good  in  the 


36     The  Rural  Home  and  Character  Development 

common  situations  and  the  common  people  of  the 
world. 

It  is,  therefore,  recommended  that  farm  parents 
provide  for  a  part  of  the  sterner  duties  of  the  boys 
and  girls  such  tasks  as  will  allow  for  comparative 
rest  of  the  body  while  the  mind  may  tarry  undis- 
turbed with  the  reflections  of  the  inner  life. 

Moving  to  town  for  the  children 

The  practice  of  the  well-to-do  farmer  who  moves 
to  town  to  "educate  his  children"  is  an  old  story  and 
is  fraught  with  many  a  hidden  tragedy,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  impoverishment  of  the  land  and  of  the 
social  order  left  behind.  Why  cannot  the  intelli- 
gent farmer  remain  on  the  home  place  and  join  a 
movement  having  for  its  purpose  that  of  making 
the  neighborhood  a  more  desirable  place  of  human 
habitation  ? 

One  of  the  dullest  places  in  the  world  is  the  coun- 
try town  which  has  been  filled  up  with  retired  farmers. 
These  are  usually  men  who  came  into  the  place 
for  the  purpose  of  getting  all  the  possible  advantages 
at  the  lowest  possible  cost.  In  the  typical  case  the 
new  city  dweller  of  this  class  secures  a  very  good 
residence,  and  that  often,  if  possible,  just  outside  the 
city  limits,  in  order  to  avoid  local  taxes.  He  takes 
little  or  no  interest  in  the  town's  municipal  affairs 
and  votes  against  nearly  all  proposed  improvements. 
He  keeps  his  own  cow,  horse,  chickens,  and  garden, 


Moving  to  Town  37 

and  brings  extra  supplies  in  from  the  farm.  Grad- 
ually he  takes  on  a  few  of  the  city  ways.  That  is, 
he  uses  less  home  produce  and  does  some  buying  at 
the  stores.  But  for  want  of  stimulating  employment 
he  gradually  grows  stouter  and  mentally  more  stupid, 
sleeping  away  many  of  the  hours  of  the  day  in  his 
chair  —  an  indication  that  he  is  dying  at  the  top  and 
that  he  is  soon  to  be  cut  down.  Really,  the  retired 
farmer  is  a  nuisance  to  the  town  and  the  town  is  a 
bore  to  him. 

But  what  of  the  children  whom  he  brought  in  to 
"educate"?  They  learn  rapidly,  soon  taking  on 
the  city  manners.  The  natural  restraints  from  evil 
conduct,  which  the  farm  home  furnished,  are  now 
wanting.  The  blare  and  bluster  of  the  town  both 
excite  and  delight  them,  while  the  parents  have  posi- 
tively no  rules  or  standards  by  which  to  govern  and 
direct  their  young  in  the  new  situation.  All  the  boys 
and  girls  need  to  do  in  order  to  gain  parental  consent 
for  going  out  at  night  is  to  declare  that  "everybody 
is  going"  or  that  they  are  "expected"  to  be  there, 
and  the  thing  is  settled.  Thus  the  young  ruralists 
newly  come  to  town  go  dancing  and  prancing  off 
into  a  veritable  world  of  sweet  dreams  and  delights 

—  spoiled  forever  for  any  service  that  they  might 
have  rendered  in  building  up  the  country  community 

—  and  finally  destined  to  become  mere  cogs  in  the 
ever  grinding  wheel  of  some  city. 


38    The  Rural  Home  and  Character  Development 

A   BACK-TO-THE-COUNTRY  CLUB 

Nearly  every  town  and  city  of  the  United  States 
has  had  a  so-called  Commercial  Club.  This  has 
been  in  reality  a  boosters' club  bent  first  of  all  on 
bringing  big  business  to  the  place  and  thus  opening 
the  way  for  a  bigger  population.  Anything  for  the 
sake  of  more  people  has  been  the  watchword.  Now, 
I  would  reverse  this  order  of  things.  Nearly  every 
one  of  these  towns  and  cities  needs  a  club  or  commit- 
tee that  might  have  for  its  purposes  :  (1)  to  show  the 
would-be  retired  farmer  how  to  shift  the  burdens  from 
his  wife  as  housekeeper,  how  to  provide  better  social 
and  intellectual  advantages  for  his  children  and  yet 
stay  on  the  farm;  (2)  to  find  means  and  methods 
whereby  to  plant  in  the  rural  community  those 
persons  of  the  city  population  who  are  not  making  a 
fair  livmg  in  their  present  positions,  seeking  first  of 
course  to  choose  those  who  are  capable  of  trans- 
planting and  then  preparing  them  with  care  for  the 
change. 

I  am  satisfied  that  this  thing  can  be  successfully 
thought  out,  —  that  is,  how  the  worthy  poor  city 
family  may  be  removed  to  the  country  and  there 
through  hard  work  gradually  acquire  enough  land 
whereon  to  earn  a  fair  living  at  least.  This  end  will 
never  be  accomplished  by  merely  driving  out  the 
poor  families,  but  rather  by  means  of  scientific  and 
sympathetic  practice  of  re-establishing  them.    Well- 


Literature  on  Character  Development  39 

conducted  research  shows  that  these  poor  people  are 
nearly  all  constituted  of  good,  sound,  human  stock. 
So,  if  transported  under  the  conditions  named,  there 
may  be  expected  to  come  forth  in  the  second  genera- 
tion a  splendid  crop  of  rural  boys  and  girls. 

REFERENCES 

Report  of  the  Commission  on  Country  Life.     Introduction  by  Theo- 
dore Roosevelt.     Sturgis- Walton  Company,  New  York.     A  brief  but 

epoch-making  book.     The  student  of  rural  problems  will  find  it  a 

splendid  outline  guide. 
Cutting  Loose  from  the  City.    E.  G.  Hutchins.     Country  Life,  Jan.  1, 

1911. 
Back  to  the  Farm.    J.  Smith.     Collier's,  Feb.  25, 1911. 
Value  of  a  Country  Education  to  Every  Boy.     Craftsman,  January, 

1911. 
Why  Back  to  the  Farm  ?    Editorial.     Craftsman,  February,  1911. 
The    Country-Life    Movement.     L.  H.  Bailey.     The  Macmillan   Co. 

Contains  a  contrast  of  the  back-to-the-land  movement  and  the 

country-life  movement. 
Drift  to  the  City  in  Relation  to  the  Rural  Problem.    J.  M.  Gillette. 

American  Journal  of  Sociology,  March,  1911. 
The  New  Country  Boy.     Independent,  June  22,  1911. 
Overworked  Children  on  the  Farm  and  in  the  School.     Dr.   Woods 

Hutchinson.     Annals  American  Academy,  March,  1909. 
Why  One  Hundred  Boys  ran  away  from  Home.     L.  E.  Jones.    Ladies' 

Home  Journal,  April,  1910. 
The  Country  Girl  who  is  coming  to  the  City.     Batchelor.     Delineator, 

May,  1909. 
Play  and  Playground  Literature.     For  most  helpful  and  inexpensive 

literature  on  this  subject  address:   The  Playground  Association  of 

America,  1  Madison  Ave.,  New  York  City. 
Conservation  in  the  Rural    Districts.      James  W.   Robertson,   D.Sc. 

The  Association  Press,  New  York. 
Education  for  Country  Life.     Willet  M.  Hays.     Free  Bulletin,  U.  S.  De- 


40     The  Rural  Home  and  Character  Development 

partment  of  Agriculture.  Treats  ably  consolidation  and  rural 
agricultural  high  schools. 

Child  Problems.  George  B.  Mangold,  Ph.D.  Book  II,  Chapters  I-II, 
"Play  and  the  Playground";  Book  III,  Chapters  I-V,  "Child 
Labor  Problems."  The  last  reference  contains  accurate  information 
as  to  child-labor  legislation  up  to  date  of  publication. 

Influence  of  Heredity  and  Environment  upon  Race  Improvements. 
Kelsey.     Annals  American  Academy,  July,  1909. 

Burning  up  the  Boys.     Editorial.     North  American,  September,  1910. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  COUNTRY  MOTHER  AND  THE  CHILDREN 

Greater  attention  needs  to  be  given  to  the  con- 
servation of  the  farmer's  wife.  Although  there  are 
many  other  justifications  for  giving  more  thought 
to  the  care  and  the  comfort  of  the  country  mother, 
the  single  fact  of  her  very  close  relation  to  the  children 
growing  up  in  the  home,  and  of  her  peculiar  respon- 
sibilities as  center  of  life  there,  warrant  us  in  devoting 
a  chapter  to  her  interests.  Recently,  while  passing 
upon  a  country  highway,  the  author  met  a  funeral 
procession.  A  little  inquiry  revealed  a  pathetic 
situation,  one  that  has  been  repeated  thousands  of 
times  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  this  fair 
country.  The  deceased  was  the  wife  of  a  young 
farmer,  both  of  them  under  thirty-five  years  of  age, 
hard  working  and  ambitious  for  success,  but  thought- 
less of  their  own  health  and  comfort.  Their  farm 
was  somewhat  new  and  unimproved,  there  were  hun- 
dreds of  things  to  do  other  than  the  routine  affairs 
of  home  keeping  and  crop  raising.  Worst  of  all, 
there  was  a  mortgage  to  be  lifted.  After  all  reason- 
able improvements  were  made  and  the  mortgage 
paid  off,  then,  according  to  their  plans,  they  were 

41 


42         The  Country  Mother  and  the  Children 

going  to  take  matters  easy.  But  the  delicate  cord  of 
life  suddenly  broke  in  the  case  of  the  wife,  and  left 
the  young  husband  as  overseer  of  the  farm  and 
home  and  sole  caretaker  of  three  little  children. 

How  can  parents  hope  to  produce  a  better  crop 
of  boys  and  girls  in  the  farm  communities  so  long 
as  the  typical  farm  wife  is  crushed  into  the  earth 
with  the  over- weight  of  the  burdens  placed  upon  her  ? 
A  few  minutes'  enumeration  in  this  same  rural  neigh- 
borhood brought  out  the  startling  fact  that  in  fully 
half  of  the  homes  a  scene  similar  to  the  one  just 
described  had  been  enacted  during  the  last  score  of 
years.  That  is  to  say,  during  the  twenty  years,  fully 
one-half  of  the  farm  mothers  living  in  that  particular 
neighborhood  had  died  before  their  time  from  one 
cause  or  another.  In  most  instances  the  death 
occurred  during  what  we  usually  speak  of  as  the  prime 
years  of  life,  and  at  a  time  when  the  rose  bloom  should 
naturally  be  fresh  upon  the  cheek.  Fortunately,  this 
serious  condition,  still  present  in  some  communities,  is 
being  gradually  improved  by  the  improved  methods. 

Poor  conditions  of  women 

The  report  of  the  Country  Life  Commission  makes 
the  following  suggestions:  — 

"The  relief  to  farm  women  must  come  through  a 
general  elevation  of  country  living.  The  women 
must  have  more  help.  In  particular  these  matters 
may  be  mentioned :  Development  of  a  cooperative 


Plate  IV 


Farm  Women  need  more  Freedom  43 

spirit  in  the  home,  simplification  of  the  diet  in  many 
cases,  the  building  of  convenient  and  sanitary  houses, 
providing  running  water  in  the  house  and  also  more 
mechanical  help,  good  and  convenient  gardens,  a  less 
exclusive  ideal  of  money  getting  on  the  part  of  the 
farmer,  providing  better  means  of  communication, 
as  telephones,  roads,  and  reading  circles,  and  devel- 
oping of  women's  organizations.  These  and  other 
agencies  should  relieve  the  woman  of  many  of  her 
manual  burdens  on  the  one  hand  and  interest  her 
in  outside  activities  on  the  other.  The  farm  woman 
should  have  sufficient  free  time  and  strength  so  that 
she  may  serve  the  community  by  participating  in  its 
vital  affairs." 

In  discussing  this  same  matter,  Henry  Wallace, 
a  member  of  the  Commission,  says  in  his  paper, 
Wallaces'  Farmer :  — 

"They  have  been  saying  that  the  mother  is  the 
hardest  worked  member  of  the  family,  which  is  often 
and  we  believe  generally  true.  They  have  been  say- 
ing that  in  the  anxiety  of  the  farmer  to  get  more  land, 
he  not  only  works  himself  too  hard,  but  his  wife  too 
hard,  and  the  boys  and  girls  so  hard  that  the  boys 
get  disgusted  and  leave  ,the  farm,  and  the  girls  marry 
town  fellows  and  go  to  town. 

"Now  the  farmer's  wife  is  really  the  most  impor- 
tant and  essential  person  on  the  farm.  As  such  she 
needs  the  most  care  and  consideration.  You  are 
careful,  very  careful,  not  to  over-work  your  horses. 


44         The  Country  Mother  and  the  Children 

How  much  more  careful  you  should  be  not  to  over- 
work the  mother  of  your  children.  You  rein  back 
the  free  member  of  the  team.  You  take  special 
care  of  the  brood  mare,  and  the  cow  that  gives  three 
hundred  pounds  of  butter.  Have  you  always  kept 
the  freest  of  all  workers,  your  wife,  from  doing  too 
much  ?     How  about  this  ?  " 

For  the  sake  of  the  children 

But  this  chapter,  as  well  as  the  entire  book,  is  being 
prepared  in  the  interest  of  boys  and  girls.  So  we 
shall  attempt  to  show  a  number  of  specific  conditions 
that  may  be  sought  as  tending  to  conserve  the 
strength  and  the  life  of  the  rural  mother,  with  a  view 
to  her  continuing  to  be  in  every  best  sense  of  the 
word  a  caretaker  and  conserver  of  the  lives  of  her 
own  children. 

1.  Surplus  nerve  energy.  —  However  it  may  be 
achieved,  the  thing  to  work  for  in  this  connection 
is  a  surplusage  of  nerve  energy.  If  the  child  train- 
ing is  to  go  on  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  the  mother 
especially,  and  if  possible  both  parents,  must  have 
stated  times  and  occasions  for  looking  after  such 
training  and  for  inculcating  a  series  of  important 
fundamental  lessons.  The  first  and  best  test  of  this 
child-rearing  situation  may  be  made  at  evening.  If, 
after  the  work  of  the  ordinary  day,  the  mother  is 
still  fresh  enough  to  take  a  real  interest  in  the  chil- 
dren's affairs,  to  read  to  them  briefly  and  perhaps 


A  Rest  Period  Needed  45 

tell  them  a  story  or  two,  or  to  read  for  further  prep- 
arations of  her  work  with  them,  —  then  it  may  be 
said  that  her  life  energies  are  being  conserved  in  a 
fairly  satisfactory  manner.  The  children  will  most 
certainly  reap  the  benefits.  But  if  the  close  of  the 
ordinary  day's  work  finds  the  farm  mother  suffering 
from  physical  and  nervous  exhaustion,  cross  and 
impatient  with  the  other  members  of  the  family,  de- 
pressed in  spirit  and  gloomy  as  to  the  future,  these 
are  signs  which  should  give  alarm  to  the  head  of  the 
household  and  arouse  him  to  the  point  of  looking 
into  such  distressful  conditions,  and  setting  them 
right. 

2.  A  rest  period.  —  How  would  it  do  to  plan  for 
the  mother  a  daily  period  of  rest  and  relaxation  ? 
Would  not  such  a  program  furnish  something  of  a 
guarantee  of  length  of  life  in  her  own  case  and  of 
peace  and  contentment  in  the  home,  and  of  improved 
well-being  in  respect  to  the  children  ?  How  shall 
we  state  this  question  ?  Must  the  very  lives  of  the 
rural  mother  and  her  children  be  run  through  the 
mill  of  over-work  as  a  grist  for  the  improvement  and 
up-building  of  the  farm  animals  and  the  farm  crops  ? 
Or  should  all  of  these  material  things  be  valued  only 
in  proportion  as  they  contribute  to  the  happiness  and 
contentment  and  the  long  life  of  the  members  of  the 
family  ?  Too  many  farmers  seem  to  say,  as  expressed 
by  their  conduct:  "I  must  lift  that  mortgage  this 
year !     I  must  market  so  many  bushels  of  corn  and 


46         The  Country  Mother  and  the  Children 

so  many  head  of  live  stock !  So  here  goes  my  wife, 
and  here  go  my  children  into  the  hopper  !  Perhaps 
they  will  have  to  give  up  their  lives.  At  any  cost 
I  must  make  this  thing  pay  !" 

Then,  how  would  it  be  to  set  apart  an  hour  or 
more  each  day,  regularly,  for  the  rest  and  relaxation 
of  the  mother,  and  call  it  "  Mother's  hour"  ?  Dur- 
ing that  time  let  it  be  the  policy  of  the  entire  family 
to  require  no  work,  no  assistance,  no  favors  of  her, 
unless  it  be  in  case  of  illness.  During  such  a  time 
of  recuperation,  the  delicate  organism  of  the  ordinary 
woman  would  tend  to  regain  its  poise.  The  nerve 
energy  would  be  more  or  less  restored,  while  she  would 
tend  to  view  the  better  things  of  life  more  nearly 
from  their  right  angle.  Best  of  all,  she  would  re- 
gather  during  the  hour  not  a  little  strength  to  be 
used  later  in  the  caretaking  of  her  children.  Try 
it  for  a  week. 

3.  The  home  conveniences.  —  This  is  not  the  place 
for  a  detailed  discussion  of  what  might  or  ought  to  be 
put  into  the  house  for  the  sake  of  the  convenience  of 
the  home-maker.  But  if  such  materials  be  thought- 
fully arranged,  they  may  be  made  most  effective, 
even  though  they  be  small  and  inexpensive.  A  little 
inquiry  among  the  ordinary  homes  will  show  what 
is  meant  here,  by  either  the  presence  or  the  lack  of 
the  things  indicated.  It  is  not  so  much  a  question 
of  expense  as  it  is  one  of  thoughtful  provision.  The 
guiding  principle  of  the  home  convenience  is  that  of 


Home  Conveniences  First  47 

saving  and  conserving  the  strength  of  the  house- 
keeper. 

There  is  especially  one  day  in  the  week  which 
might  be  appropriately  called  the  "mother-killing 
day."  That  is  the  occasion  of  her  doing  the  washing 
and  ironing  for  the  family.  Not  infrequently  two 
or  three  days  thereafter  are  required  for  the  restora- 
tion of  her  normal  strength  and  health.  Now,  it  is 
clearly  the  specific  duty  of  the  farmer  to  take  hold 
of  just  such  matters  as  this  and  attempt  seriously 
to  put  them  right.  Doing  the  washing  for  four  or 
five,  and  that  with  the  use  of  the  wash  tub,  is  a  man's 
work  so  far  as  required  muscular  energy  is  concerned, 
and  very  few  women  are  able  to  do  it  regularly  and 
live  out  their  allotted  lives.  Therefore,  let  the  con- 
scientious farmer  see  to  it  first  of  all  that  some  kind 
of  machinery  be  installed  for  lightening  such  wife- 
killing  tasks  as  that  just  named.  Let  him  provide 
such  household  helps  and  conveniences  first,  and 
for  the  sake  of  the  house  mother  and  her  children. 
And  then,  if  there  be  other  means  available,  let  him 
provide  the  man-saving  machinery  about  the  barn 
and  the  fields.  In  the  chapter  on  "Constructing 
a  Country  Dwelling,"  fuller  attention  will  be  given 
to  these  matters. 

4.  The  mother's  outings.  —  The  farmer  who  is 
seriously  interested  in  providing  for  the  care  and  com- 
fort of  his  family,  and  for  the  instruction  and  intelli- 
gent direction  of  his  children,  will  see  to  it  that  his 


48         The  Country  Mother  and  the  Children 

life  companion  be  allowed  her  share  of  outings. 
This  matter  must  be  just  as  much  on  his  mind  as 
that  of  marketing  the  produce.  The  usual  habit  of 
the  farmer's  wife  is  to  give  up  willingly  her  rights  and 
opportunities  of  this  sort.  But  she  cannot  well  con- 
tinue to  be  spiritually  strong  and  mentally  well  dis- 
posed toward  the  world  unless  she  be  permitted  to 
get  out  among  her  friends  and  acquaintances  at  fre- 
quent intervals. 

So,  arrange  carefully  a  series  of  outings  for  the 
country  mother.  The  beginning  of  such  a  program 
is  to  provide  that  there  be  available  for  her  use  and 
at  her  command  a  horse  and  carriage.  This  equip- 
ment need  not  be  of  the  finest  quality,  and  it  may 
be  used  for  other  purposes,  but  when  her  needs  ap- 
pear, it  should  be  given  up  to  her  purposes.  At  least 
one  afternoon  a  week  she  should  go  away  from  the 
place  and  be  free  as  much  as  possible  temporarily 
from  the  cares  of  the  household  while  she  finds  con- 
genial company  among  some  of  the  neighboring 
women,  or  at  the  library  or  elsewhere. 

5.  The  home  help.  —  The  unending  problem  of 
the  home  life  throughout  much  of  the  civilized  world 
is  that  of  obtaining  adequate  assistance  in  the  per- 
formance of  the  household  work.  Much  of  the  time 
such  assistance  from  outside  sources  is  practically 
unavailable.  And  yet  something  must  be  done  to 
meet  the  situation.  If  there  be  young  girls  growing 
up  in  the  home,  the  solution  of  the  problem  may, 


Boys  May  Do  Housework  49 

and  should,  be  met  by  means  of  requiring  the  daugh- 
ters to  assist  with  the  home  duties.  But  in  case  there 
be  no  daughters  it  is  seriously  recommended  that 
either  the  father  or  the  boys  do  certain  parts  of  the 
heavier  housework. 

It  is  not  necessarily  beneath  the  dignity  of  the  best 
and  most  brilliant  man  of  this  country  for  him  to 
get  down  on  his  knees  in  his  own  home  and  help  per- 
form the  menial  work  there  which  threatens  to  break 
the  health  of  his  life  companion.  If  there  be  growing 
sons  in  the  family,  there  is  every  justification  for  train- 
ing them  to  assist  in  the  housework  in  a  case  where 
such  assistance  is  needed  to  shield  the  health  and 
strength  of  the  mother.  It  prepares  for  better  man- 
hood and  for  more  sympathetic  protection  of  his  own 
wife  to  be,  if  the  boy  be  required  to  do  such  things 
and  thus  to  become  intimately  acquainted  with  what 
it  means  to  perform  the  many  burdensome  tasks  that 
tend  to  wear  away  the  lives  of  so  many  good  women. 

6.  The  children  shield  the  mother.  —  There  will 
perhaps  be  no  better  occasion  than  this  to  remind 
parents  of  the  necessity  of  carefully  training  the  grow- 
ing'children  to  perform  such  deeds  as  will  shield  the 
mother  in  the  home,  and  show  a  sympathetic  interest 
in  her  welfare.  These  matters  will  not  naturally 
be  acquired  by  children.  The  country  to-day  is 
full  of  grown  men  whose  mothers  and  wives  have 
worked  themselves  to  death ;  and  yet  these  men  did 
not  detect  the  seriousness  of  the  situation  until  it 


50         The  Country  Mother  and  the  Children 

was  too  late.  There  are  many  men  of  this  same 
general  class  who  are  willing  and  even  anxious  to 
protect  the  women  of  the  home  from  the  crush  of 
over-work,  but  who  know  not  how  to  do  it.  Such 
faults  as  we  have  just  named  might  easily  have  been 
avoided  had  these  men,  during  very  early  boyhood, 
been  brought  into  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 
burdensome  tasks  of  the  household.  Especially 
should  they  have  been  drilled  time  after  time  in  the 
performance  of  deeds  of  love  and  sympathy  in  respect 
to  their  mother.  It  may  seem  a  little  thing  for  a 
younger  child  to  rush  to  the  table,  call  for  and  par- 
take of  the  best  the  table  provides  and,  inattentive 
to  the  wants  of  any  other  members  of  the  family, 
hurry  off  to  his  play  full  fed  and  happy.  And  yet 
this  very  thing  may  be  indicative  of  a  serious  lack 
of  attention  to  the  rights  and  requirements  of  others, 
such  as  may  be  carried  over  into  his  future  home  life 
and  there  amount  to  serious  abuse.  Again,  it  must 
be  insisted  that  deeds  of  sympathy  and  altruism  are 
acquired  through  the  actual  and  continued  practice 
of  the  performance  of  such  deeds. 

7.  Planning  for  the  children.  —  Among  the  other 
splendid  results  of  the  conservation  of  the  nerve 
energy  and  the  vital  interests  of  the  house  mother 
may  be  mentioned  that  of  her  ability  to  plan  thought- 
fully for  the  instruction  of  the  boys  and  girls.  It  is 
not  an  easy  task  to  select  appropriate  stories  and 
readings  for  the  young.     It  is  neither  an  easy  nor 


Some  Difficult  Questions  51 

a  trifling  matter  for  the  parent  to  be  able  to  read 
suitable  stories  to  them  and  to  interpret  helpfully 
such  stories.  It  is  not  a  trifling  matter  for  the  par- 
ents to  converse  together  an  hour  at  evening  and  there 
plan  as  to  the  future  home  instruction  of  their  young. 
When  should  this  be  introduced  into  the  boy's  life 
and  when  that  into  the  girl's  life  ?  What  is  a  fair 
allowance  for  the  boy  for  what  he  does  and  for  his 
spending  money  for  the  Fourth  of  July,  Christmas, 
and  the  like  ?  What  is  a  fair  allowance  for  the  girl  with 
which  to  purchase  her  clothes  and  for  her  pin  money  ? 
When  should  each  of  them  be  told  this  and  that 
about  the  secrets  of  life,  and  where  may  helpful  lit- 
erature thereon  be  obtained  ?  Just  when  and  how 
much  should  the  boy  and  girl  be  allowed  to  go  among 
the  young  people  of  the  community  ?  When  we 
consider  the  far-reaching  results  which  their  solution 
may  mean  for  the  developing  young  lives,  these  and 
many  other  such  questions  become  exceedingly  im- 
portant. 

8.  A  common  conspiracy.  —  In  many  a  farm  home 
to-day  there  is  a  secret  compact  which  goes  far  to 
shape  the  destiny  of  a  great  number  of  lives.  Go 
if  you  will  to  the  farm  home  where  the  life  of  the 
mother  is  being  gradually  crushed  out  by  the  over- 
work and  the  lack  of  sympathetic  protection  on  the 
part  of  the  husband,  and  you  will  almost  invariably 
find  a  secret  understanding  between  the  mother  and 
the  growing  children  in  reference  to  the  future  careers 


52         The  Country  Mother  and  the  Children 

of  the  latter.  It  is  implied  by  these  words  put  into 
the  mouth  of  the  mother:  "Your  father  is  too  am- 
bitious about  the  work  and  in  his  desire  for  accumu- 
lating wealth  about  the  farm.  He  is  over- working 
me,  is  thoughtless  of  me,  and  indifferent  to  your 
present  needs  and  your  future  welfare.  Work  on 
as  you  must,  driven  by  him,  but  do  as  little  as  you 
can  and  grow  up  to  manhood  and  womanhood.  Study 
your  books,  get  through  with  your  schooling,  and 
in  time  find  something  easier  for  your  own  life 
work.  Perhaps  we  can  persuade  him  to  give  it  up 
after  a  while  and  move  to  town,  where  you  can  go  out 
more,  dress  better,  and  get  more  enjoyment  out  of 
life."  Thus,  the  children  grow  up  to  mistrust  and 
dislike  their  father,  and  to  despise  the  vocation  in 
which  he  is  engaged.  Such  a  state  of  affairs  will 
precipitate  their  flight  from  the  home  nest.  This 
will  take  place  at  the  earliest  possible  moment  and 
will  often  be  in  the  nature  of  a  leap  into  the  dark, 
anything  to  get  away  from  the  drudgery  of  the  farm. 
Mark  you  this  situation  well,  you  farm  fathers, 
and  attack  it  in  all  possible  haste  with  the  best  avail- 
able relief.  A  happy,  contented,  well-protected 
farm  mother  almost  certainly  means  the  same  sort 
of  farm  children,  while  the  converse  situations  will 
also  run  in  the  same  unvarying  parallel.  Do  not 
satiate  your  desire  for  more  hogs  and  more  land  with 
the  sacrifice  of  the  peace  and  happiness  and  the  very 
life-blood  of  your  wife  and  children  ! 


Literature  on  the  Country  Mother  53 

REFERENCES 

The  Nervous  Life.  G.  E.  Partridge,  Ph.D.  Sturgis- Walton  Company, 
New  York.  This  book  is  especially  recommended  as  an  aid  to  the 
relief  of  the  tired  farm  mother. 

Parenthood  and  Race  Culture.  Charles  W.  Saleeby,  M.D.  Chapter  IX, 
"  The  Supremacy  of  Motherhood."  Moffat,  Yard  &  Co.,  New  York. 
This  is  a  book  of  great  value  for  students  of  race  improvement. 

From  Kitchen  to  Garret.  Virginia  Van  de  Water.  Chapter  I,  "A 
Heart-to-Heart  Talk  with  the  House  Wife."  Sturgis- Walton  Com- 
pany. Wholesome  advice  concerning  the  conservation  of  the 
mother's  strength. 

Proceedings  of  Child  Conference  for  Research  and  Welfare,  1910. 
L.  Pearl  Boggs,  Ph.D.  Page  5,  "  Home  Education."  G.  E. 
Stechart  &  Co.,  New  York. 

The  Efficient  Life.  Dr.  L.  H.  Gulick.  Chapter  XVIII,  "  Growth  in 
Rest."  This  entire  volume  is  highly  recommended  as  being  suit- 
able for  over-worked  mothers. 

What  the  Farmer  can  do  to  Lighten  his  Wife's  Work.  T.  Blake.  Ladies' 
Home  Journal,  Feb.  15,  1911. 

The  Higher  Tide  of  Physical  Conscience.  Dr.  L.  H.  Gulick.  World's 
Work,  June,  1908. 

Education  for  Motherhood.  Charles  W.  Saleeby.  Good  Housekeeping, 
April,  1910. 

The  Profession  of  Motherhood.  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott.  Outlook,  April  10, 
1909. 

Power  Through  Repose.  Annie  Payson  Call.  Chapter  Xn,  "Training 
for  Rest."     Little,  Brown  &  Co. 

Wallaces'  Farmer,  Des  Moines,  la.,  is  especially  to  be  commended  for 
its  editorial  championship  of  The  Farm  Mother. 

The  Freedom  of  Life.  Annie  Payson  Call.  Chapter  IV,  "Hurry, 
Worry,  and  Irritability."     Little,  Brown  &  Co. 

Ideas  of  a  Plain  Country  Mother.     Ladies'  Home  Journal,  May  1,  1911. 

American  Motherhood.  Coopertown,  New  York  Monthly,  $1.  This 
magazine  publishes  many  short  articles  bearing  on  the  subject  of 
this  chapter. 

How  to  conduct  Mothers'  Clubs.  (Pamphlet  No.  302,  8  cents.)  Amer- 
ican Motherhood.    Coopertown,  New  York. 


CHAPTER  V 

CONSTRUCTING  THE  COUNTRY  DWELLING 

Much  has  been  written  in  books,  and  more  has 
been  spoken  from  platform  and  pulpit,  relative  to 
the  patriotism  of  the  American  people.  In  addition 
to  all  this  the  public  schools  of  city  and  country  have 
been  consciously  instructing  the  children  with  a 
view  to  laying  a  permanent  foundation  in  their  lives 
for  love  of  the  native  land  and  for  defense  of  the 
national  ideals.  But  it  seems  to  me  that  the  best 
word  on  the  subject  of  patriotic  instruction  has  never 
as  yet  been  given  wide  publicity.  So  long  as  a  boy 
has  to  grow  up  in  a  home  where  there  are  meanness 
and  turmoil  and  strife  and  hatred  and  degradation, 
one  may  point  a  thousand  times  with  pride  to  our 
great  nation,  display  again  and  again  before  his 
eyes  the  proud  banner  of  freedom,  sing  with  him 
numberless  times  the  patriotic  songs  eulogistic  of 
the  fatherland  and  its  national  heroes,  —  under  such 
circumstances  a  boy  can  never  be  expected  to  de- 
velop into  anything  other  than  a  superficial  patriot. 
But  give  him  a  good  home,  simple  and  unadorned 
though  it  may  be,  where  love  reigns,  where  his  child- 
ish needs  are  thoughtfully  ministered  unto,  where- 

54 


Real  Patriotism  a  Growth  55 

into  he  may  go  at  nightfall  after  a  hard  day's  work 
and  find  rest  and  peace  and  comfort ;  a  home  where- 
into  he  may  take  his  childish  cares  and  perplexities 
and  place  them  before  the  affectionate  consideration 
of  his  parents  and  perhaps  his  elder  brothers  and 
sisters ;  a  place  where  he  is  carefully  taught  the  rudi- 
ments of  filial  respect  and  a  wholesome  regard  for 
work  and  industry,  —  bring  up  the  boy  in  the  midst 
of  these  plain,  sympathetic  situations,  and  you  have 
a  real  patriot.  Although  he  may  be  reminded  only 
occasionally  of  the  meaning  of  the  national  flag,  and 
although  he  may  read  with  no  unusual  interest  about 
the  blood  that  was  spilled  on  the  national  field  of 
battle,  a  life  so  reared  would  mean  that  the  love  of 
home  has  become  rooted  in  the  heart  of  the  young 
patriot,  and  that  he  would  rise  up  if  need  be  and  give 
his  life  in  defense  of  that  home.  In  such  a  case,  only 
a  small  stretch  of  the  imagination  would  make  it 
possible  for  the  youth  to  regard  the  nation  as  his  home 
in  the  larger  sense,  while  his  willingness  to  defend 
that  home  in  time  of  real  need  would  be  none  the 
less  present  and  strong. 

Plans  and  specifications  not  available 

There  are  hundreds  of  types  and  thousands  of 
varieties  of  rural  dwelling  houses.  It  would  perhaps 
be  impracticable  to  attempt  to  furnish  definite  plans 
and  specifications  in  connection  with  this  chapter. 
The  wide  variation  in  the  nature  of  the  selected  sites, 


56  Constructing  the  Country  Dwelling 

in  the  means  available  for  building  the  home,  in  the 
size  of  the  family  to  be  accommodated,  and  the 
like,  would  hinder  us  in  the  attempt.  But  there  are 
certain  principles  that  may  perhaps  apply  in  nearly 
every  instance  and  that  especially  in  thought  of 
serving  the  first  and  best  needs  of  the  juvenile  mem- 
bers of  the  household. 

It  is  altogether  possible  to  make  a  two-room  cot- 
tage out  on  the  open  prairie  a  place  suggestive  of 
repose,  of  beauty,  and  of  other  high  ideals.  So,  no 
matter  how  small  and  inexpensive  the  rural  dwelling 
may  be,  let  the  builders  work  first  of  all  for  that 
simple  beauty  and  attractiveness  which  may  most 
certainly  invest  the  heart  of  the  indweller  with  a 
feeling  of  comfort  and  satisfaction.  Let  it  be  a 
place,  though  humble,  that  may  soon  become  to  the 
members  of  the  family  the  most  beloved  spot  on 
earth.  For,  after  all,  the  best  things  of  life  cannot 
possibly  be  bought  with  money.  There  are  often 
misery  and  dissension  and  bitterness  in  the  finest 
palatial  dwelling,  while  the  essential  elements  of 
beauty  and  worth  may  have  lodgment  in  the  hearts 
of  the  humblest  cottage  dwellers.  However,  it  is 
not  the  intention  here  to  argue  any  one  into  the 
thought  of  building  a  humble  cot  for  the  mere  sake 
of  humility.  The  point  we  desire  to  make  is  merely 
this:  that,  although  possessed  of  very  meager 
means  with  which  to  build,  one  can  actually  construct 
a  home  in  which  the  inhabitants  thereof  may  dwell 


Plate  V. 


Things  that  Appeal  to  Children  57 

in  peace  and  contentment,  and  a  place  over  which  the 
Spirit  of  the  Most  High  may  brood  in  great  strength 
and  beauty. 

What  appeals  to  the  children 

In  the  selection  of  a  location  and  a  site  for  the 
dwelling  the  welfare  of  the  children  must  be  thought 
of,  second  only  to  that  of  the  house  mother.  Now, 
what  material  arrangements  will  appeal  to  the  grow- 
ing children  and  add  much  interest  and  romance 
to  their  lives  as  in  future  time  they  view  them  in 
retrospect  ?  First  of  all,  perhaps,  a  broken  landscape 
might  well  be  mentioned,  a  hill  or  two  near  by  the 
place,  with  a  sharp  cliff  or  embankment  to  the  crest 
of  which  the  children  may  climb  and  there  cast 
down  missiles.  Such  things  tend  to  add  a  charm  to 
the  young  lives.  And  then,  if  possible,  have  a 
brook  or  larger  stream  of  fresh  running  water.  A 
large  river  is  less  desirable  on  account  of  the  danger 
to  child  life.  But  a  stream  which  may  furnish,  not 
merely  water  for  the  live-stock,  but  a  swimming  and 
bathing  place  for  the  children  in  summer  and  a 
skating  pond  for  them  in  winter,  to  say  nothing 
about  the  pleasures  of  fishing  and  boating  —  these 
will  appeal  most  strongly  to  the  boys  and  girls. 
And  then,  the  woodland,  or  at  least  the  shady  grove 
with  trees  to  climb,  and  possibly  nuts  and  wild  flowers 
to  gather  —  a  place  where  chipmunks  and  song  birds 
and  the  like  may  have   their  natural  habitat,  and 


58  Constructing  the  Country  Dwelling 

wherefrom  there  may  proceed  the  weird  and  doleful 
sound  of  the  night  owl  and  the  whip-poor-will;  herein 
one  may  find  many  of  the  crude  materials  well  suited 
to  give  proper  nourishment  to  the  souls  of  the  young. 
But  the  things  just  named  will  not  nearly  always  be 
accessible.  Throughout  many  of  the  commonwealths 
there  are  vast  stretches  of  level  plateaus  with 
scarcely  a  hill  or  woodland  in  sight,  and  yet  covered 
with  a  rich,  tillable  soil.  These  places  may  for  good 
reasons  be  selected  for  the  site  of  a  dwelling.  But 
they  demand  more  work  and  heavier  expense  of 
money  and  time  before  the  best  material  surroundings 
of  an  ideal  home  for  boys  and  girls  may  be  realized. 
Before  the  house  is  scarcely  laid  out  in  such  a  place, 
the  shade  and  ornamental  trees  should  be  planted, 
selecting  for  part  of  the  planting  a  quick-growing 
species  that  may  be  removed  later  after  more  per- 
manent and  more  valuable  trees  have  reached  a 
suitable  height.  Of  course,  a  stream  of  water  can- 
not always  be  diverted  so  as  to  make  it  pass  the 
place,  but  a  fair  substitute  may  be  had  by  the  con- 
struction of  a  pond.  And  this  thing  should  be  ac- 
complished at  the  earliest  possible  moment.  If 
there  be  a  small  dry  ravine,  dam  it  up  with  concrete 
and  catch  it  full  of  surplus  water  during  a  rainy 
season.  It  is  a  positive  injustice  to  boys  and  not  a 
little  unfair  to  girls  to  require  them  to  grow  up  with- 
out any  access  to  open  water  of  some  kind.  And  it  is 
almost  a  matter  of  criminal  neglect  to  require  chil- 


The  House  Plan  59 

dren  to  live  permanently  in  a  home  about  which 
there  are  no  trees  growing.  So  it  is  recommended, 
even  if  the  house  construction  must  in  part  be  de- 
layed or  cut  off,  that  the  surroundings  just  named 
be  sought  in  all  earnestness. 

The  house  plan 

In  planning  and  arranging  the  house,  the  matters 
to  be  thought  of  in  addition  to  those  named  above 
are  convenience  and  comfort.  While  it  is  somewhat 
important  that  the  house  look  well  to  those  who  may 
be  passing  upon  the  highway,  it  is  vastly  more  im- 
portant that  it  be  good  within  and  serve  such  needs 
of  the  home-maker  and  the  children  as  will  conserve 
the  strength  of  the  former  and  render  the  lives  of  all 
happy  and  contented.  In  addition  to  the  matters 
just  named,  that  of  placing  the  dwelling  to  face  in  the 
right  direction  will  be  thought  of.  That  is,  arrange 
the  house  so  as  to  take  advantage  of  the  morning 
sunlight,  the  evening  shade,  the  winter  blasts  and 
the  summer  breezes.  While  for  the  sake  of  entertain- 
ment it  may  be  well  to  place  the  rural  dwelling  near 
the  public  highway,  rather  than  sacrifice  the  child- 
developing  factors  of  shade  trees  and  streams  and 
the  like,  it  is  often  better  to  build  back  from  the  road 
and  make  a  private  lane  leading  thereto. 

In  arranging  for  the  heat  and  light  in  the  house, 
think  first  of  all  of  the  health  and  sanitation  of  the 
family.     Ordinarily,  the  windows  of  the  farmhouse 


60  Constructing  the  Country  Dwelling 

are  too  small ;  while  worse  still,  many  of  them,  even 
in  the  bed  chambers,  are  permanently  nailed  down. 
So,  if  the  health  and  the  general  well-being  of  the 
boys  and  girls,  as  well  as  the  parents,  are  worth 
anything  at  all,  attend  religiously  to  these  small  and 
inexpensive  conveniences,  not  neglecting  to  provide 
most  carefully  for  keeping  out  flies  and  other  insects. 
The  wise  farmer  will  find  the  secret  of  getting  along 
with  his  own  household  and  of  rearing  a  strong, 
healthy  family  to  lie  in  the  strict  attention  he  gives 
to  just  such  small  matters  as  these.  The  things 
that  overstrain  the  physique,  that  try  the  temper  and 
patience  of  the  housewife,  must  especially  be  looked 
after  and  something  of  a  better  nature  substituted 
for  them. 

HOW   ONE  FARMER   DOES   IT 

Mr.  W.  F.  Mottier,  living  in  Ford  County,  Illinois, 
gives  in  Farmer's  Voice  his  plan  of  providing  for  the 
children,  as  follows :  — 

"  I  have  always  tried  to  farm  intelligently.  One 
of  my  favorite  ideas  in  regard  to  farm  life  is  that  of 
making  the  home  as  attractive  as  possible  for  the 
children.  So  I  put  on  the  place  all  the  modern  im- 
provements that  I  can  afford,  in  order  that  the 
children  may  not  feel  that  town  life  is  the  best. 
And  our  children  do  not  have  any  desire  to  go  to 
town.  It  would  bring  a  sad  thought  to  me  to  hear 
my  children  talk  against  the  farm  life  or  home  life  on 
the  farm." 


Human  Rights  Paramount  61 

Outbuildings  and  equipment 

With  few  exceptions,  the  money  available  for 
building  the  home  should  be  expended  first  in  put- 
ting the  house  into  the  ideal  condition  just  named. 
After  that,  if  any  means  remain,  the  outbuildings 
may  be  constructed.  Otherwise,  crude,  temporary 
arrangements  may  easily  suffice.  There  is  one  thing, 
however,  that  must  be  provided  with  scrupulous  care 
and  that  is  the  water  for  the  household  use.  It 
must  be,  first  of  all,  wholesome  and  comparatively 
free  from  impurities.  Then,  if  at  all  possible,  it 
should  be  cool  and  taste  well.  Actual  records  have 
shown  that  one  will  not  drink  enough  water  to  satisfy 
the  demands  of  his  health  in  case  the  taste  be  in  any 
degree  unpleasant  to  him.  So  the  ideal  water  for 
household  use  is  comparatively  soft,  is  cool,  highly 
pleasing  to  the  taste,  and  is  free  from  disease-carrying 
germs.  This  comparatively  simple  matter  of  pro- 
viding the  water  will  prove  most  important  in  rela- 
tion to  the  well-being  of  the  household  and  the  up- 
building of  the  family  life.  See  to  it  at  any  cost 
that  the  well  be  situated  out  of  the  way  of  seepage 
from  any  barn  or  outbuilding,  even  though  it  may 
from  such  necessity  be  placed  somewhat  out  of  the 
reach  of  convenience. 

Human  rights  prior  to  animal  rights 

If  the  farmer  cannot  afford  to  erect  a  good  barn  he 
may  take  reasonable  care  of  his  horses  with  the  use 


62  Constructing  the  Country  Dwelling 

of  a  cheap,  improvised  one.  Actual  test  will  show 
that  horses  may  be  made  comfortable  in  the  summer 
time  with  the  use  of  a  straw-thatched  shed  for  a 
barn,  provided  the  drainage  be  reasonably  good  and 
the  earth  floor  be  kept  in  good  order.  The  thatched 
covering  may  be  made  to  keep  out  the  rain.  During 
the  winter,  with  the  use  of  a  few  slender  poles,  the 
entire  shed  may  be  inclosed  with  a  hay  or  straw  wall 
and  the  place  thus  be  made  very  satisfactory  for  the 
time  being.  Similar  sheds  and  protection  may  be 
provided  for  the  other  live-stock,  all  to  await  the 
time  when  the  means  are  at  hand  for  better  con- 
veniences. It  is  especially  suggestive  of  a  mean  lack 
of  consideration  of  human  rights  in  the  case  of  the 
farmer  who  has  a  big,  expensive  farm  barn  towering 
up  beside  a  little  dingy  shanty  of  a  dwelling  house. 
And  yet  this  thing  is  all  too  common,  particularly 
in  new  prairie  regions.  Such  is  the  place  out  of 
which  beastliness  and  criminality  and  anarchy  tend 
to  be  germinated  from  the  lives  of  boys  and  girls,  to 
say  nothing  about  the  hidden  tragedies  that  surround 
the  lives  of  the  many  women  who  are  forced  to  put 
up  with  such  an  arrangement  for  half  a  lifetime. 

Just  one  illustration  of  a  situation  of  the  sort  de- 
scribed will  suffice  to  point  out  the  moral.  On  an 
occasion  two  strangers  drew  up  to  a  farmhouse. 
One  of  them  was  a  land  agent,  and  the  other  a  home 
seeker.  Their  mission  was  that  of  purchasing  a 
farm.     The  owner  of  the  farm  showed  them  about 


Why  the  Boys  Leave  Home  63 

the  place  with  considerable  enthusiasm,  but  his  heart 
swelled  with  pride  when  he  reached  the  magnificent 
barn,  one  side  of  which  was  devoted  to  the  propaga- 
tion of  a  high-grade  strain  of  Duroc  Jersey  swine. 
Every  convenience  and  comfort  for  the  hogs  was 
provided.  He  boasted  about  his  success  with  them, 
showed  an  affectionate  regard  for  the  different  in- 
dividuals, calling  them  by  name.  The  horses,  too, 
might  have  aroused  the  envy  of  the  entire  neighbor- 
hood. They  were  sleek  and  well-fed,  full  in  flesh 
and  fair  in  form.  There  was  provided  every  con- 
venience for  feeding  and  caring  for  the  horses  and 
the  hogs,  so  that  the  hired  men  found  the  work 
about  the  barn  exceedingly  easy  and  pleasant. 

Then  the  attention  of  the  visitors  was  turned  to  the 
farmhouse.  Yes,  it  was  small  and  run  down  and 
poor,  the  intention  being  to  build  a  larger  one  "  some 
time."  But  that  same  intention  was  known  to 
have  been  expressed  repeatedly  for  a  period  of 
twenty  years  past.  And  where  were  the  boys  ? 
Well,  that  was  the  trouble,  and  furnished  the  excuse 
for  his  willingness  to  sell  the  place.  He  simply 
could  not  induce  the  boys  to  stay  there  and  take  an 
interest  in  things.  Two  of  them,  barely  more  than 
boys,  had  left  the  home  nest  in  its  meanness  and 
degradation  and  hired  out  in  town.  The  mother 
of  the  boys  was  living  there  because  she  had  to,  but 
upon  her  face  were  lines  of  suffering  and  disappoint- 
ment and  degradation.     Yet  in  the  midst  of  it  all, 


64  Constructing  the  Country  Dwelling 

strange  to  say,  the  father  seemed  to  blame  the  boys 
and  their  mother  for  having  conspired  against  the 
interests  of  the  farm  home  and  plotted  to  get  away. 
In  the  course  of  his  conversation  he  made  it  somewhat 
evident  that  he  would  have  sold  out  and  left  sooner 
had  the  other  members  of  the  family  not  been  so 
urgent  about  the  matter,  and  that  he  was  now  holding 
on  partly  to  indulge  his  spite  and  feeling  of  stub- 
bornness in  reference  to  them. 

The  cheap  novels  one  may  pick  up  depict  many  a 
fictitious  tragedy.  But  in  the  place  just  described 
lies  the  typical  scene  of  thousands  of  real  tragedies 
during  the  course  of  which  numberless  lives  of  boys 
and  girls  have  been  wrecked  forever,  —  lives  latent 
with  possibilities  of  goodness  and  beauty,  of  mental 
and  moral  strength.  And  then,  the  bitterness  and 
anguish  of  soul  of  the  mothers  of  these  lost  members 
of  a  high  humanity  —  what  of  that  ?  The  silent 
walls  of  an  untimely  grave  in  many  cases  closed  them 
in,  while  much  of  the  memory  of  their  secret  suffering 
lies  buried  with  them. 

The  children's  room 

Even  though  the  means  available  will  not  allow 
for  more  than  the  humblest  sort  of  cottage,  there 
should  be  definite  thought  of  providing  therein 
some  room  or  niche  or  corner  to  be  considered  as 
the  private  property  of  the  children.  In  a  three- 
room  dwelling  on  the  Kansas  prairie  in  which  lives  a 


Plate  VI. 


V 


A  Room  for  the  Children  65 

happy  family  of  five,  and  about  which  thrifty  young 
shade  trees  and  orchards  are  growing,  there  may  be 
seen  a  children's  room  that  would  surprise  and  in- 
spire any  ordinary  observer.  In  a  little  attic  room 
facing  the  east  and  reached  by  a  mere  step-ladder 
arrangement,  may  be  found  the  "den,"  which  is  the 
private  place  of  the  three  children.  A  small  win- 
dow opens  out  to  the  east  and  a  small  improvised 
dormer  window  about  twelve  by  twenty  inches  ad- 
mits light  and  air  from  the  south.  There  is  no  plas- 
tering or  other  expensive  covering  upon  the  sloping 
roof  walls,  but  the  artistic  mother  has  provided  dainty 
white  muslin  for  concealing  the  rough  places,  and 
with  the  help  of  the  children  she  has  decorated  the 
little  room  in  a  manner  that  would  attract  the  very 
elect.  None  of  this  has  required  a  money  cost,  but 
it  has  all  been  done  beautifully  at  the  expense  of 
thought  and  good  sense  and  artistic  taste,  prompted 
by  rare  consideration  for  the  needs  of  the  boys  and 
girls. 

The  two  little  girls  and  their  brother,  ranging  in 
age  from  five  to  ten  years,  spend  many  a  happy  hour 
in  their  attic  chamber.  The  heat  from  the  room 
below  comes  through  a  small  aperture  and  warms 
the  little  place  in  winter  time,  while  the  breeze  passes 
through  the  little  windows  in  summer,  tempering 
the  room  satisfactorily  excepting  upon  extremely  hot 
days.  Upon  the  walls  are  arranged  beautiful  post 
cards,  larger  pictures  gathered  from  magazines  and 


66  Constructing  the  Country  Dwelling 

other  sources,  and  small  though  beautiful  home 
decorations  of  every  conceivable  sort.  The  little 
seven-year-old  boy  has  a  small  assortment  of  curios 
collected  from  the  hills  and  streams,  while  the  girls 
have  a  small  display  of  their  childish  needlework, 
their  dolls,  and  some  of  their  best  school  drawings. 
How  suggestive  and  how  helpful  it  would  be  if  this 
little  den  could  be  displayed  before  the  eyes  of  all  the 
humble  cottagers  throughout  the  rural  districts  ! 

Yes,  the  hogs  may  live  out-of-doors  and  the  horses 
get  along  very  well  indeed  with  a  temporary  barn 
thatched  with  straw,  but  the  places  of  the  boys  and 
girls  must  be  looked  after  and  that  in  the  interest 
of  making  them  happy,  of  filling  their  lives  with 
every  good,  clean  sentiment,  and  of  preparing  them 
for  that  large  sphere  of  usefulness  which  may  mark 
their  future.  If  the  house  be  larger  than  the  one 
we  have  described,  then  provide  accordingly  for 
the  children.  Give  them  a  good  room  of  their  own. 
Put  their  ornaments  and  playthings  in  it.  If  there 
be  space,  provide  a  library  containing  a  few  suitable 
volumes.  And  after  this  thoughtful  provision  has 
been  made,  see  to  it  carefully  that  their  schedule  for 
work,  schooling,  and  the  other  duties  allows  for  ample 
time  and  opportunity  for  their  enjoyment  of  the 
apartment  set  aside  for  them.  In  years  to  come, 
that  sweet  poetic  sentiment  running  back  to  the  home 
of  one's  childhood  will  be  given  greater  strength  and 
beauty  because  of  the  fact  that  this  thing  just  urged 


An  Hour  with  the  Family  67 

has  been  done.  And  more  than  that,  the  man  (or 
woman)  who  has  the  blessed  privilege  of  recalling 
these  bygone  scenes  of  childhood  receives  from  such 
contemplation  a  new  sense  of  inner  strength  and  new 
enduement  of  power  to  go  on  with  life's  struggle 
and  master  the  larger  problems  that  come  to  him. 

The  evening  hour 

No  matter  what  the  cares  of  the  day  may  have 
been,  how  many  things  may  have  gone  wrong,  how 
much  hay  left  out  in  the  field  unprotected  from  the 
rain,  how  many  acres  of  corn  unplowed  and  losing 
in  the  battle  with  the  weeds,  how  many  items  of 
household  duties  unperformed  —  there  is  every  jus- 
tification for  laying  aside  these  work-a-day  affairs 
at  the  approach  of  bedtime  and  for  the  spending  of 
a  precious  hour  with  the  problems  of  the  children. 
Farm  parents  as  well  as  other  parents  can  thus 
preserve  their  youth  and  add  immeasurably  to  the 
joys  of  their  own  lives.  This  thing  of  being  with 
the  children  at  evening  may  seem  slightly  awkward 
and  prosaic  at  first,  but  it  will  slowly  grow  into  a 
habit  and  will  become  transformed  into  an  experi- 
ence of  great  charm  and  beauty.  Best  of  all  the 
high  refinement,  potential  in  the  lives  of  the  children, 
will  thus  be  gradually  brought  to  an  expression,  and 
the  foundation  stones  of  substantial  manhood  and 
womanhood  will  be  laid  in  their  lives.  Yes,  it  is 
true,  even  farm  parents  may  learn  to  lay  aside  their 


68  Constructing  the  Country  Dwelling 

cares  and  perplexities  and  enjoy  the  splendid  privi- 
lege of  getting  intimately  acquainted  with  the  hopes 
and  desires  and  aspirations  of  their  boys  and  girls  ! 

REFERENCES 

The  Outlook  to  Nature.    Revised  edition.    L.   H.   Bailey.    Page  79, 

"The  Country  Home."     Macmillan. 
Low  Cost  Country  Homes.     A.  Embury,  Jr.     Collier's,  June  10,  1911. 
A  Primer  of  Sanitation.     John  O.  Ritchie.     Chapter  XXXIII,  "Public 

Sanitation."    World  Book  Company,  Yonkers,  N.Y.    Recommended 

for  general  use. 
From  Kitchen  to  Garret.    Virginia  Van  de  Water.     Chapter  X,  "The 

Boy's  Room."     Sturgis- Walton  Company. 
Home  Waterworks.     Carleton  J.  Lynde.     Sturgis- Walton. 
"  Comforts  and  Conveniences  in  Farmers'  Homes."   W.  R.  Beattie.   Year- 
book, Department  of  Agriculture,  1909,  Washington,  D.C.,  pp.  345- 

356.    See  also  in  same  volume,"  Hygienic  Water  Supply  for  Farms," 

pp.  399-408. 
Water  Supply  for  Farm  Residences,  The  Plan  of  the  Farm-House, 

Saving  Steps.     Cornell  Reading-Courses. 
Rural  Hygiene.     H.  N.  Ogden.    The  Macmillan  Company. 
Rural  Hygiene.     I.  N.  Brewer.    J.  P.  Lippincott  Company,  Philadelphia. 
Earn  your   Child's   Friendship.     J.   Balfield.     Lippincotfs  Magazine, 

January,  1911. 
Fireside  Child  Study.     Patterson  DuBois.     Dodd,  Mead  &  Co. 
Home  Decorations.    Dorothy  T.  Priestman.     Chapter  XIV,  "Rooms 

for  Young  People."     Penn  Publishing  Company,  Philadelphia. 


CHAPTER  VI 

JUVENILE  LITERATURE  IN   THE  FARM 
HOME 

It  may  be  truly  said  that  the  strength  and 
impressiveness  of  the  personality  depend  on  the 
nature  of  the  inner  thought  of  the  individual.  Now, 
thoughts  are  not  unlike  the  trees  and  the  growing 
grain,  or,  for  that  matter,  any  other  living  thing; 
unless  they  have  proper  nourishment  they  wither, 
perish,  or  dwindle  away  to  a  puny  shadow  of  their 
possible  selves.  How  shall  we  measure  the  strength 
and  force  of  the  human  character  other  than  by  the 
bigness  and  the  purity  of  the  daily  thoughts  of  the 
individual  ?  It  matters  little  what  the  occupation 
may  be  —  a  hewer  of  stone,  a  hauler  of  wood,  a  cap- 
tain of  industry,  or  a  governor  of  a  state  —  each  of 
these  may  be  mean  and  little  in  his  respective  posi- 
tion provided  his  thoughts  be  sensuous  and  grovel- 
ing. On  the  other  hand,  each  of  these  can  shine  in 
his  allotted  place  in  a  light  all  his  own,  provided  he 
have  the  habit  of  entertaining  clean  and  inspiring 
ideas  in  his  secret  consciousness. 

Now,  one  of  the  larger  problems  of  the  rural  life 
is  that  of  supplying  the  many  hours  necessarily  de- 

69 


70         Juvenile  Literature  in  the  Farm  Home 

voted  to  silent  reflection  with  a  suitable  form  of 
thought  culture.  Proverbially,  the  farmer  and  his 
wife  and  their  children  are  hurried  along  with  the 
work-a-day  affairs  and  tend  gradually  to  acquire  the 
non-reading  habit.  This  is  bad  for  the  parents  in 
that  it  keeps  their  minds  running  around  upon  a 
little  cycle  of  hard,  industrial  facts.  It  is  worse  for 
the  children  in  that  it  fails  to  supply  the  proper 
nourishment  for  the  dream  period  through  which 
their  lives  are  necessarily  passing.  What  can  be 
done,  therefore,  to  nourish  and  build  up  the  best 
possible  thought  activities,  especially  in  case  of  the 
rural  boys  and  girls  ? 

HOW  GOOD  THINKING  GROWS  UP  AND  FLOURISHES 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  show  here  somewhat 
more  definitely  how  attractive  forms  of  literature 
gradually  work  themselves  into  the  lives  of  the 
young.  In  the  first  place,  the  young  person  cannot 
invent  his  own  ideas.  He  does  not  manufacture  his 
thoughts  out  of  something  latent  within  his  organism. 
The  latent  situation  consists  merely  of  a  nervous 
system  prepared  to  receive  manifold  impressions  and 
to  retain  them  and  give  them  back  through  the  pro- 
cess of  ideation.  That  is,  the  young  person  thinks 
only  about  things  that  have  actually  happened  in 
his  life.  All  he  knows  has  come  to  him  through  the 
avenue  of  his  senses ;  what  he  has  seen  and  heard  and 
felt,  and  so  on,  constitutes  the  "stuff"  out  of  which 


Literature  Adapted  to  the  Child  71 

his  thoughts  are  made.  So  he  must  have  the  widest 
possible  experience,  while  young,  in  the  use  of  his 
natural  senses. 

The  literature  best  adapted  to  the  child  would  be 
that  which  appeals  to  the  interests  predominating 
in  his  life  at  any  given  time.  During  his  early  years 
not  hard,  prosaic  facts,  but  situations  that  stretch 
the  truth  and  sport  with  the  fixed  condition  of  things 
are  especially  appealing  to  him.  He  should  there- 
fore be  indulged  in  the  classic  myths,  fables,  fairy 
tales,  and  the  like.  The  parent  will  of  course  be 
on  guard  against  his  acquiring  any  seriously  errone- 
ous beliefs  in  respect  to  such  things,  and  also  against 
his  receiving  any  serious  shock  or  fright  from  the 
tragic  aspects  of  the  tale.  Later  on,  during  the  early 
teens,  the  boys  and  girls  will  become  more  and  more 
interested  in  the  stories  of  the  wars  of  old  and  in  the 
fact  and  romance  of  history.  Stories  supplementing 
the  textbook  history  of  the  home  country  may  now 
be  introduced. 

As  a  possible  means  of  bringing  the  minds  of  the 
boys  and  girls  into  a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
rural  situation,  nature  studies  and  nature  stories 
should  be  offered.  It  must  be  remembered  that  it  is 
quite  possible  for  the  boy  to  grow  up  within  a  stone's 
throw  of  many  of  the  living  things  of  nature  and  yet 
scarcely  recognize  their  presence,  much  less  know 
anything  definite  about  them.  Therefore,  nature- 
study  books  and  leaflets  written  perhaps  in  story 


72        Juvenile  Literature  in  the  Farm  Home 

form  and  containing  attractive  illustrations  of  the 
birds,  bees,  flowers,  and  trees  to  be  found  near  about 
the  rural  home  will  prove  most  interesting  and 
instructive  to  the  young.  Through  such  helpful 
literature  the  mind  will  gradually  acquire  the  habit  of 
casting  about  in  the  home  environment  for  the  de- 
scription of  possible  objects  and  conditions  new  to  one. 
One  of  the  best  and  most  helpful  results  accruing 
to  the  young  person  who  indulges  the  habit  of  read- 
ing good  literature  is  this:  he  acquires  a  large  vo- 
cabulary of  words  and  phrases  in  which  to  clothe  his 
secret  thought  and  with  which  to  express  himself  to 
others.  All  this  furnishes,  not  merely  a  splendid 
form  of  entertainment  for  the  silent  reflections,  but 
it  also  gives  the  thinker  a  sense  of  the  power  and  the 
worth  of  his  own  personality. 

Types  of  literature 

It  may  be  stated  as  a  foregone  conclusion  that  no 
farm  is  well  equipped  for  the  happiness  and  well- 
being  of  those  who  dwell  thereon  unless  there  be  an 
ample  supply  of  good  literature  in  the  house.  No 
matter  how  well  stocked  with  high-grade  farm  ani- 
mals, how  productive  in  point  of  farm  crops,  how  well 
kept  the  hedges  and  lanes  may  be,  secret  poverty  and 
littleness  of  mind  lurk  in  that  home  if  the  literature 
is  wanting.  So,  first  of  all,  let  us  lay  the  foundation 
by  means  of  enumerating  some  periodicals  and  books 
of  a  more  general  nature. 


Plate  VII. 


A  Variety  of  Literature  73 

1.  The  best  reading.  —  Of  course  the  Bible  might 
head  the  list.  Whether  or  not  there  be  a  large 
"family"  Bible,  there  should  be  at  least  a  text  of 
convenient  size  and  form  for  everyday  use.  This 
book  should  contain  a  good  concordance. 

Then  there  should  come  into  the  home  a  first- 
class  weekly  newspaper;  possibly  the  local  paper 
will  supply  this  need.  Many  farm  homes  now  re- 
ceive a  daily  paper  regularly. 

In  addition  there  should  be  available  a  weekly  or 
monthly  summary  of  the  current  events  of  the  nation 
and  the  world.  The  Literary  Digest,  the  World's 
Work,  and  the  Review  of  Reviews  are  examples  of 
standard  magazines  of  this  particular  class.  Either 
one  of  them  will  stimulate  most  helpfully  the  quiet 
thought  of  the  farmer  and  the  members  of  his  family 
and  keep  one  in  touch  with  the  most  important  move- 
ments of  the  country. 

Along  with  the  foregoing,  there  should  be  kept 
constantly  at  hand  a  first-class  farm  magazine. 
There  are  numberless  periodicals  of  this  sort,  but 
perhaps  among  those  of  the  first  rank  and  those 
which  especially  give  definite  helps  for  the  boy-and- 
girl  life  of  the  farm  may  be  mentioned  Wallaces' 
Farmer,  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  the  Farmer's  Voice, 
Chicago,  Illinois,  and  the  Farmer's  Guide,  Hunting- 
ton, Indiana.  Also,  the  semi-official  state  paper 
well  known  in  many  of  the  commonwealths  is  usu- 
ally very  helpful. 


74        Juvenile  Literature  in  the  Farm  Home 

Look  out  for  trash.  There  are  many  papers 
published,  ostensibly  in  the  interest  of  farm  life, 
which  are  in  fact  cheap  and  trashy  sheets  made  use 
of  almost  wholly  as  a  medium  of  advertising  quack 
medicines,  get-rich-quick  schemes,  and  other  frauds. 
A  reliable  means  of  testing  the  value  of  any  one  of 
these  so-called  "farm"  or  "home"  papers  is  to 
examine  the  advertisements.  If  there  be  any  con- 
siderable number  of  advertisements  which  offer 
sure  cures  for  chronic  diseases,  confidential  treat- 
ments for  secret  troubles,  fortune  telling,  and  at- 
tractive high-priced  articles  at  a  trifling  cost,  then 
the  whole  thing  is  probably  fraudulent  and  not 
worthy  to  come  into  your  home.  Also  avoid  the 
paper  or  magazine  which  advertises  intoxicating 
liquors.  It  is  very  low  in  moral  tone,  to  say  the 
least. 

2.  Books  for  children.  —  In  selecting  a  list  of 
books  for  farm  boys  and  girls,  we  should  make  little 
or  no  distinction  between  them  and  the  children  of 
the  city  homes.  Their  earlier  literary  needs  are 
practically  all  alike  and  their  youthful  minds  must 
be  nourished  in  about  the  same  fashion.  In  offer- 
ing the  lists  to  follow  we  do  not  pretend  to  have 
selected  nearly  all  the  profitable  books  available,  but 
rather  to  have  named  a  few  examples  of  volumes 
already  found  enticing  and  helpful  to  the  young 
mind.  The  majority  of  them  are  standard  and  well 
known.    While  the  price  and  publisher  are  given  in 


A  Selected  Reading  List  75 

many  instances,  often  a  cheaper  edition  may  be 
had. 

In  order  to  proceed  with  greater  certainty  and 
economy  in  purchasing  books  for  the  children,  the 
rural  parent  is  advised  to  consult  some  one  near  at 
hand  who  is  thoroughly  familiar  with  children's 
literature.  Perhaps  the  superintendent  of  schools 
of  the  town  near  by,  or  some  local  minister,  or  some 
well-informed  leader  of  a  mothers'  club,  may  fur- 
nish the  desired  assistance.  It  would  also  be  helpful 
to  write  for  the  general  catalogues  of  a  number  of 
the  large  publishing  and  distributing  houses  and 
from  their  lists  select  a  number  of  suitable  titles. 
Many  of  them  publish  the  older  classics  in  very 
attractive  form  for  ten  to  twenty-five  cents,  the  origi- 
nal unchanged  and  unabridged. 

In  order  to  stimulate  interest  in  forming  the  nu- 
cleus of  a  home  library  the  farmer  should  either 
make  or  purchase  a  small  set  of  book  shelves.  Im- 
portant as  it  may  seem  to  build  a  first-class  house  for 
the  thoroughbred  hogs,  this  matter  of  the  children  s 
reading  is  even  more  important  and  should  be  at- 
tended to  first,  before  it  becomes  too  late  to  catch 
the  attentive  ear  of  the  boys  and  girls. 

A  SELECTED  LIST 

The  following  lists  are  taken  chiefly  from  those  selected  by  such  well- 
known  critics  as  Mary  Mapes  Dodge,  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin,  Edward 
Everett  Hale,  Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson,  and  Hamilton  W.  Mabie. 


76        Juvenile  Literature  in  the  Farm  Home 

Ages  Four  to  Six  Years 

Various  Authors.     Boston  Collection  of  Kindergarten  Stories.    J.  L. 

Hammett  Company,  Boston.     50  cents. 
Bryant.    Stories  to  Tell  to  Children.     Houghton,  Mifflin  Company. 
Holbrook.     Hiawatha  Primer.   50  cents.   Houghton,  Mifflin  Company. 
Eqgleston.     Story  of  Great  America  for  Little  Americans.     85  cents. 

Houghton,  Mifflin  Company. 
Scudder.     Fables  and  Folk  Stories. 
Stevenson.    A  Child's  Garden  of  Verses. 
Lang.     Blue  Fairy  Book. 
Ruskin.     King  of  the  Golden  River. 
Field.    Lullaby  Land. 
Wiggin.    The  Story  Hour. 
Sewell.     Black  Beauty. 

Ages  Six  to  Seven  Years 

Norton  and  Stephens.    The  Heart  of  Oak  Books,  No.  1.    25  cents. 

Heath. 
Gilbert.     Mother  Goose. 
Carroll  (Charles  L.  Dodgson).    Alice  in  Wonderland.     $3.     Harper. 

85  cents.     Crowell. 
Andrews.    The  Seven  Little  Sisters.    60  cents.     Ginn. 
Kingslet.    Water  Babies. 
Kipling.    The  Jungle  Book. 
Greene.    King  Arthur  and  his  Court. 

Ages  Seven  to  Eight  Years 

Grimm.    Fairy  Tales.     Translated  Mrs.  E.  Lucas.    $  2.50.     Lippincott. 
Goldsmith.     Goody  Two-Shoes.     25  cents.     Heath. 
Msov.    Fables.     Selected  by  Jacobs.     $1.50.     Macmillan. 
Harris.     Nights  with  Uncle  Remus.     $1.50.     Houghton,  Mifflin. 
Bible  Stories.    60  cents.     A.  L.  Burt  Company,  New  York. 
Hawthorne.     Wonderbook  and  Tanglewood  Tales. 
Irving.     Rip  Van  Winkle  and  The  Legend  of  Sleepy  Hollow,  or  The 
Sketch  Book. 


Books  for  Various  Ages  77 

Ages  Eight  to  Nine  Years 

Baldwin.    Fifty  Famous  Stories  Retold.    35  cents.    American  Book 
Company. 

Longfellow.    Hiawatha,    The    Village    Blacksmith,    The    Children's 
Hour,  etc. 

Mabie.     Norse  Stories  Retold  from  Edda.    $1.80.     Dodd,  Mead. 

Miller.     Out-of-Door  Diary  for  Boys  and  Girls.     Sturgis- Walton  Com- 
pany. 

Ages  Nine  to  Ten  Years 

Norton  and  Stephens.    Heart  of  Oak  Books,  No.  4.  45  cents.  Heath. 
Hodges.    The  Garden  of  Eden.     (Bible  Stories.)     $1.50.    Houghton, 

Mifflin. 
Mathews.     Familiar  Trees  and  Their  Leaves.    $1.75.    Appleton. 
Burroughs.    Wake  Robin. 

Ages  Ten  to  Eleven  Years 

Higginson.    Tales  of  the  Enchanted  Islands  of  the  Atlantic. 

Dana.     How  to  know  the  Wild  Flowers.     $  2.    Scribner. 

Blanchan.     Bird  Neighbors.    35  cents.     Doubleday,  Page. 

Norton  and  Stephens.    Heart  of  Oak  Books,  No.  5.    50  cents.  Heath. 

Church.     Stories  from  Virgil. 

Morlet.    A  Song  of  Life. 

Stevenson.    Teasure  Island. 

Ages  Eleven  to  Twelve  Years 

Alcott.     Little  Women.    $1.50.     Little    Men.    $1.50.    Little,  Brown 

&Co. 
Lucas.    A    Wanderer  in  London.    $1.75.     Macmillan. 
Aldrich.    Story  of  a  Bad  Boy.    $1.25.     Houghton,  Mifflin. 
Shakespeare.    The  Tempest. 
Scott.    Tales  of  a  Grandfather.    The  Talisman. 
Edgeworth.    Parent's  Assistant. 

Ages  Twelve  to  Thirteen  Years 

Kipling.    Just  So  Stories.    $1.20.     Doubleday,  Page. 
Seton-Thompson.     Wild  Animals  I  have  Known.    $2.    Scribner. 


78        Juvenile  Literature  in  the  Farm  Home 

Wyss.    Swiss  Family  Robinson.    60  cents.     McKay;  also  Dutton. 

Palmer.    The  Odyssey.     $1.    Houghton,  Mifflin. 

Goldsmith.    The  Vicar  of  Wakefield. 

Dickens.    A  Christmas  Carol.    The  Cricket  on  the  Hearth. 

Hughes.    Tom  Brown  at  Rugby. 

Ages  Thirteen  to  Fourteen  Years 

Swift.    Gulliver's  Travels.     $1.50.    Macmillan. 

Longfellow.    Evangeline. 

Dana.    Two  Years  before  the  Mast.     $  1.    Houghton,  Mifflin. 

Norton  and  Stephens.     Heart  of  Oak  Books,  No.  6.    55  cents.    Heath. 

Lamb.     Tales  from  Shakespeare. 

Coffin.     Old  Times  in  the  Colonies. 

Franklin.     Autobiography. 

Stowe.     Uncle  Tom's  Cabin. 

Ages  Fourteen  to  Fifteen  Years 

Defoe.    Robinson  Crusoe.    $1.     McLoughlin.    $1.50.     Harper. 

Bunyan.     Pilgrim's  Progress. 

Norton  and  Stephens.    Heart  of  Oak  Books,  No.  7.    60  cents.  Heath. 

Austen.    Pride  and  Prejudice. 

Thoreau.    Walden. 

Ages  Fifteen  to  Sixteen  Years 

Cooper.    Leather  Stocking  Tales. 

Burroughs.     Birds  and  Bees.     15  cents.     Strawbridge  and  Clothier. 
Ptle.     Robin  Hood.     60  cents.     Scribner. 

Scott.    Ivanhoe.    60  cents.     Appleton.     Lady  of  the  Lake.    35  cents. 
Ginn.    Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel.     25  cents.     Macmillan. 

Sixteen  Years  Old  and  Older 

Irving.    The  Alhambra.     25  cents.     Macmillan. 
Macaulay.     Lays  of  Ancient  Rome.    75  cents.     Macmillan. 
Kipling.     Captains  Courageous.     $1.50.    Century. 
Nicolay  and  Hay.     Boy's  Life  of  Lincoln.    $1.50.     Century. 
Eggleston.     Hoosier  School  Boy.    $1.     Scribner;  also  Heath. 


Literature  on  Child-rearing  79 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing,  there  is  beginning  to  come  from  the  press 
a  mass  of  juvenile  literature  that  promises  to  furnish  most  practical 
inspiration  and  guidance  to  the  juvenile  mind  on  the  farm.  Much  of 
this  new  rural  life  literature  may  be  had  for  the  asking  or  for  the  mere 
price  of  publication.  The  following  are  recommended :  — 
The  Rural  School  Leaflet.  Edited  by  Alice  G.  McCloskey,  and 
issued  under  the  general  direction  of  L.  H.  Bailey  at  Ithaca,  N.Y. 
The  Country  Life  Publications,  issued  by  D.  W.  Working,  Superintend- 
ent of  Agricultural  Extension,  Morgantown,  W.Va. 
The  series  published  by  A.  B.  Graham,  Superintendent  of  the  Extension 

Department,  Ohio  University,  Columbus. 
The  annual  reports  of  County  Superintendent  O.  J.  Kern,  Rockford, 
111.,  and  of  County  Superintendent  George  W.  Brown,  Paris,  111. 
The  Wisconsin  Arbor  and  Bird  Day  Annual,  issued  by  State  Superin- 
tendent C.  P.  Cary,  Madison,  Wis. 

The  Extension  Departments  of  many  of  the  state  universities  and 
nearly  all  of  the  state  agricultural  colleges  are  now  issuing  a  series  of 
small  pamphlets  on  such  matters  as  stock  judging,  grain  breeding,  soil 
testing,  and  home  economics.  This  literature  should  be  given  the 
widest  possible  circulation  in  the  country  home,  as  it  will  prove  helpful 
both  to  the  young  and  to  the  parents  in  their  direction  of  the  young. 

Literature  on  Child-rearing 

Parents  who  are  seriously  in  earnest  in  the  matter  of  developing  the 
lives  of  their  children  will  find  great  assistance  and  much  inspiration 
through  the  reading  of  books  and  magazines  on  the  child-rearing  prob- 
lems. In  fact,  it  may  be  put  down  as  a  practical  certainty  that  the  work 
of  child  training  cannot  go  on  effectively  and  continue  in  its  interest 
except  one  have  some  aids  of  the  kind  just  named.  Therefore,  the  in- 
terested parent  should  cast  about  for  the  books  and  magazines  that 
promise  to  serve  in  the  solution  of  the  particular  problems  at  hand.  It 
happens  that  the  author  has  collected  a  large  number  of  books  and  peri- 
odicals of  this  class  and  that  he  has  made  a  somewhat  critical  examination 
of  them. 

In  listing  the  titles  below,  a  word  or  phrase  is  used  to  indicate  the  con- 
tents or  purpose  of  the  text. 


80        Juvenile  Literature  in  the  Farm  Home 

1.  Periodicals  on  Child-rearing 

The  American  Baby.  American  Publishing  Company,  1  Madison  Ave., 
New  York  City.  $1  per  year,  10  cents  per  copy.  Contains  much 
detailed  and  most  helpful  instruction  on  the  care  of  the  child. 

American  Motherhood.  Coopertown,  N.Y.  $1  per  year,  10  cents 
per  copy.  Helpful  and  sympathetic.  Especially  strong  in  respect 
to  health  and  sanitation  and  in  methods  of  instructing  children  in 
regard  to  the  secrets  of  life. 

The  Child-Welfare  Magazine.  Official  organ  of  the  National  Congress 
of  Mothers,  147  North  10th  Street,  Philadelphia.  50  cents  per 
year,  10  cents  per  copy. 

The  educational  pamphlets  published  by  the  Society  of  Sanitary  and 
Moral  Prophylaxis,  9  E  2d  Street,  New  York  City.  Excellent  mono- 
graphs, each  treating  some  urgent  child  problem  in  relation  to  morals, 
sanitation,  and  the  like. 

The  Home-training  Bulletins,  prepared  and  issued  by  William  A. 
McKeever,  Professor  of  Philosophy,  State  Agricultural  College, 
Manhattan,  Kan.  5  cents  each.  Each  of  these  pamphlets  con- 
tains about  sixteen  pages  and  covers  a  particular  home-training 
problem.     The  numbers  thus  far  issued  are :  — 

1.  The  Cigarette  Smoking  Boy. 

2.  Teaching  the  Boy  to  Save. 

3.  Training  the  Girl  to  Help  in  the  Home. 

4.  Assisting  the  Boy  in  the  Choice  of  a  Vocation. 

5.  A  Better  Crop  of  Boys  and  Girls. 

6.  Training  the  Boy  to  Work. 

7.  Teaching  the  Girl  to  Save. 

8.  Instructing  the  Young  in  Regard  to  Sex. 
Others  are  in  course  of  preparation. 

2.   Books  on  Child-rearing 

Hour.  Care  and  Feeding  of  Children.  $1.  Appleton.  Most  helpful 
and  practical. 

Cublbt.  Short  Talks  with  Young  Mothers.  $1.50.  Putnams.  Help- 
ful from  the  medical  side. 


Books  on  Child-rearing  81 

Harbison.    A  Study  of  Child   Nature.    $1.    Chicago   Kindergarten 

College.    Excellent.     A  standard  help. 
Allen.     Civics  and  Health.    $1.25.    Ginn  &  Co.     Most  helpful  on  the 

side  of  sanitation. 
Hall.    Youth.    $1.50.     Appleton.    A  great  book  on  child  study  by 

one  of  the  world's  leading  authorities. 
Kino.    Psychology  of  Child  Development.     $1.     University  of  Chicago 

Press.    A  fundamental  work  for  those  who  wish  to  make  a  scientific 

study  of  child  life. 
Ritchie.     A  Primer  of  Sanitation.    60  cents.    World  Book  Company.    A 

clear,  helpful  presentation  of  the  facts. 
Chance.    The  Care  of  the  Child.    $1.     Penn   Publishing  Company. 

Full  of  detailed  information  about  infants,  especially. 
Mangold.     Child  Problems.     $1.25.     Macmillan.    Presents  the  matter 

ably  and  in  the  light  of  the  freshest  information. 
Call.    The  Freedom  of  Life.    $1.    Little,  Brown  &  Co.    A  great  and 

inspiring  book.     Will  give  rest  and  poise  to  tired  mothers. 
Gulick.     Mind  and  Work.     $1.    Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.     A  companion 

book  to  the  one  above,  only  more  suitable  for  the  father. 
Saleebt.     Parenthood  and  Race  Culture.    $2.50.     Moffat,  Yard  &  Co., 

New  York.     A  remarkably  instructive  volume  on  race  improvement. 

REFERENCES 

How  to  Direct  Children's  Reading.  Mae  E.  Schreiber.  Annual 
volume  N.E.A.,  1900,  p.  637. 

A  Suggestive  List  for  a  Children's  Library,  483  titles.  Helen  T.  Ken- 
nedy.    Democrat  Printing  Company.     Minneapolis. 

A  Mother's  List  of  Books  for  Children.  Catherine  W.  Arnold.  A.  C. 
McClurg  &  Co. 

Children's  Rights.  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin.  Pages  69  ff.  "What  shall 
Children  Read?"    Houghton,  Mifflin  Company. 

Fingerposts  of  Children's  Reading.  Walter  Taylor  Field.  McClurg  & 
Co.    Gives  extensive  lists. 

Books  for  Boys  and  Girls.  Brooklyn  Public  Library,  New  York.  A  care- 
fully selected  list  of  1700  titles,  200  of  them  being  especially  marked 
for  their  value. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  RURAL  CHURCH  AND  THE   YOUNG 
PEOPLE 

There  was  never  a  greater  demand  for  efficient 
leadership  in  the  rural  communities  than  there  is 
to-day.  The  country  has  continued  for  many  years 
past  to  become  richer  in  farm  products  and  equip- 
ment, but  it  has  steadily  grown  poorer  in  social  and 
spiritual  values.  In  fact  we  have  unconsciously 
acquired  a  distorted  idea  of  values.  Hogs  are  too  high 
in  proportion  to  boys.  Beef  cattle  are  absorbing  too 
much  interest  in  proportion  to  the  time  and  money 
expended  in  perfecting  the  character  of  girls.  It 
has  long  been  the  proud  boast  of  the  Middle  Western 
states  that  they  could  feed  the  entire  country.  And 
we  have  continued  so  long  in  this  way  as  now  to 
regard  big  crops  and  the  great  abundance  of  farm 
animals  and  other  such  material  possessions  as  ends 
in  themselves.  So  it  is  high  time  that  we  ask  our- 
selves what  this  material  wealth  is  all  for.  Looked 
at  from  at  least  one  high  vantage  point,  it  may  be 
properly  regarded  as  so  much  encumbrance  unless  we 
shall  be  able  to  convert  it  into  a  means  to  some 
worthy  and  spiritual  purpose. 

82 


Latent  Wealth  of  the  Country  83 

Decadence  of  rural  life 

The  open  country  in  the  Middle  Western  states 
has  for  some  time  been  the  breeding  place  for  sterling 
manhood  and  ideal  womanhood,  and  the  recruiting 
ground  wherefrom  have  been  drawn  many  men  and 
women  to  undertake  the  management  of  the  larger 
enterprises  of  the  country.  The  enforced  self 
denial  and  discipline  of  work ;  the  continued  practice 
of  quiet  reflection;  the  comparative  freedom  from 
the  evil  and  degrading  influences  peculiar  to  much  of 
the  child  life  in  the  cities ;  and  many  other  character- 
building  experiences  could  be  set  down  on  the  favor- 
able side  of  rural  child-rearing  in  the  past.  But  this 
situation  is  rapidly  changing.  The  ten-year  period 
just  closing  has  witnessed  a  decadence  of  country  life, 
the  rural  population  actually  showing  a  decrease. 
Large  numbers  of  the  best  families  have  moved  to  the 
cities  and  towns,  and  their  places  on  the  farm  have 
been  taken  by  irresponsible  laborers  and  transient 
renters. 

Yes,  the  wealth  of  the  rural  community  is  still 
there,  lying  more  or  less  dormant,  and  all  the  other 
means  of  a  splendid  civilization  are  there.  But  in 
the  usual  instance  there  is  no  one  to  assume  the 
leadership  in  bringing  about  the  reconstruction  of 
the  rural  life.  Now  that  he  has  accumulated  such 
an  abundance  of  material  things,  the  typical  farmer 
needs  to  be  shown  how  to  deal  more  fairly  and 


84      The  Rural  Church  and  the  Young  People 

helpfully  with  the  various  members .  of  his  family. 
Some  farmers'  wives  are  gradually  being  dragged  to 
death  with  the  over-burden  of  work,  which  might  be 
obviated  if  the  farmer  and  his  wife  were  both  shown 
specifically  a  better  way  of  getting  things  done. 
Many  boys  and  girls  growing  up  in  the  country  are 
being  cheated  out  of  their  natural  heritage  of  good 
health,  spontaneous  play,  and  the  joy  of  social  inter- 
course, all  because  of  the  fact  that  farm  products  are 
too  much  regarded  as  an  end  rather  than  a  means 
to  the  higher  development  of  the  members  of  the 
rural  family.  So  a  good  soil  and  excellent  crops  are 
essentials  for  a  substantial  rural  society,  but  they  are 
not  a  certain  evidence  of  such  thing.  It  is  possible 
to  go  into  some  of  the  country  communities  where 
these  material  things  are  accumulated  in  great 
abundance  and  yet  find  the  people  there  living  a 
little,  mean,  and  narrow  form  of  life,  and  that  chiefly 
because  they  do  not  quite  understand  how  to  use 
the  splendid  means  at  hand  in  the  accomplishment 
of  some  high  and  worthy  purposes. 

Work  for  the  ministry 

And  so  we  hereby  issue  a  call  and  a  challenge  for 
workers  to  enter  the  great  fallow  field  just  named 
and  make  it  blossom  with  new  social  and  spiritual  life. 
And  it  is  the  conviction  of  some  that  the  ministers 
of  the  town  and  village  churches  can  undertake  this 
work  much  better  than  any  other  class  of  persons, 


Preaching  in  the  Country  85 

for  they  are  already  in  many  respects  trained  leaders. 
Let  these  ministers  be  provided  if  possible  with  an 
assistant,  a  layman  it  may  be,  for  both  their  town 
and  country  work.  Then  let  each  of  them  have  a 
rural  appointment  to  which  they  may  go  from  one 
to  four  times  each  month;  and,  inspired  by  a 
vision  of  all  the  possibilities  ahead  of  them  and 
endued  with  divine  power  and  guidance,  enter 
earnestly  into  the  great  work  of  rehabilitating  the 
country  community.  It  is  evident  that  the  minister 
who  will  leave  his  town  congregation  with  perhaps 
only  one  Sunday  sermon  and  go  to  a  country  church 
and  preach  to  the  adults,  and  teach  and  lead  the 
young,  while  his  assistant  takes  charge  of  the  second 
Sunday  service  at  home  —  it  is  evident  that  such  a 
minister  will  not  only  wear  longer  in  the  locality 
in  which  he  is  stationed,  but  that  he  will  find  in  the 
rural  work  just  mentioned  such  a  flood  of  zeal  and 
inspiration  as  will  more  than  make  up  for  and 
repay  the  effort.  Many  of  the  town  ministers  are 
preaching  to  audiences  that  are  more  or  less  irrespon- 
sive to  what  they  have  to  say.  Under  present  con- 
ditions they  are  compelled  to  preach  to  the  same 
audiences  too  much.  Their  sermons  grow  stale. 
But  under  the  arrangement  here  recommended, 
such  conditions  would  not  obtain.  They  would  come 
back  from  the  rural  appointment  so  laden  with 
new  ideas  and  ideals  as  to  appear  to  the  home 
congregation  in  a  most  advantageous  light. 


86      The  Rural  Church  and  the  Young  People 

The  country  minister 

There  is  at  present  not  a  little  promise  that  there 
may  be  developed  throughout  the  country  a  new 
type  of  country-dwelling  ministers.  It  is  certainly  a 
logical  position  for  the  effective  religious  worker  to 
assume;  namely,  that  of  actually  dwelling  among 
those  whom  he  is  attempting  to  serve.  He  acquires 
an  intimate  knowledge  of  their  problems,  their 
point  of  view,  including  the  status  of  their  individual 
beliefs  and  prejudices. 

As  an  example  of  what  the  country  minister  can 
achieve  one  needs  to  read  an  account  of  the  splendid 
work  of  the  Rev.  Mathew  B.  McNutt  of  Plain- 
field,  Illinois.  Mr.  McNutt  was  called  to  this  charge 
in  1900  when  a  fresh  graduate  from  a  Presbyterian 
seminary.  At  the  time  of  his  call  there  was  in 
the  locality  a  small  dead  or  nominal  church  member- 
ship and  an  occasional  weak,  ineffective  service 
held  in  the  little  old  church  of  fifty  years'  standing. 
This  devoted  and  far-seeing  man  got  down  among 
the  people  with  whom  he  settled,  made  a  careful 
survey  of  the  economic,  the  social,  and  the  religious 
life  of  the  place,  and  began  his  wonderful  work  of 
reconstructing  all  this.  The  ultimate  purpose  was 
the  improvement  of  the  spiritual  well-being.  He 
organized  singing  schools,  granges,  literary  and  de- 
bating societies,  sewing  societies,  and  clubs  of  vari- 
ous other  sorts,  all  as  a  means  of  awakening  the 


Plate  VIII. 


Fig.  8.  - — The  fifty-year-old  country  church  at  Plainfield. 


•  1^\^^k 

A 

m 

1 

.^■m 

hUL.         V    ! 

■^1 

J 

177 

r 

jjjjBt 

Fig.  9.  —  The  new  country  church  at  Plainfield,  Illinois,  erected  through 
the  inspiration  and  leadership  of  Reverend  Matthew  B.  McNutt. 


A  Successful  Country  Minister  87 

life  of  the  community  and  bringing  the  people  to- 
gether in  a  spirit  of  mutual  sympathy  and  help- 
fulness. After  less  than  a  decade  of  hard  work  a 
marvelous  transformation  of  the  rural  life  thereabout 
was  achieved.  Among  other  notable  changes  was  a 
new  church  to  supplant  the  old  one.  The  new 
building  was  erected  at  a  cash  cost  of  ten  thousand 
dollars ;  has  an  audience  room  seating  five  hundred 
or  more,  several  Sunday  school  class  rooms,  a  choir 
room,  a  cloak  room,  a  pastor's  study  and  a  mothers' 
room,  all  on  the  main  floor.  In  the  basement  below 
there  is  a  good  kitchen,  a  dining  room  with  equip- 
ment, also  a  furnace,  a  store  room,  and  the  like. 
The  church  membership  has  grown  to  one  hun- 
dred sixty-three  with  many  non-members  attending, 
while  the  Sunday  school  enrollment  increased  to 
three  hundred. 

Now  there  are  always  a  few  minds  who  wish  to 
measure  all  earthly  things  in  terms  of  a  money 
value.  To  such  it  may  be  shown  that  the  land 
values  in  the  vicinity  of  this  new  country  church 
have  gone  up  to  a  marked  degree  and  that  the 
economic  conditions  are  all  of  a  most  satisfactory 
nature. 

As  further  evidence  of  what  a  rural  community 
working  together  may  achieve  for  the  spiritual 
welfare,  there  may  be  cited  the  instance  of  the  little 
side  station  by  the  name  of  Ogden  in  Riley  County, 
Kansas.     Here  the  people  got  together  and  voted  to 


88      The  Rural  Church  and  the  Young  People 

build  a  country  church,  and  that  without  determining 
as  to  the  denominational  affiliation.  A  committee 
of  leaders  was  appointed  to  raise  funds  and  to  draw 
plans  for  the  building.  In  a  short  time,  arrangements 
were  perfected  for  constructing  the  building  at  a 
cost  of  four  thousand  dollars.  It  was  later  voted 
to  place  this  new  church  temporarily  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Congregational  church  in  Manhattan, 
fifteen  miles  away. 

In  one  or  two  instances  the  religious  leaders  in 
a  country  community  have  succeeded  admirably  in 
establishing  a  "commission"  form  of  church  ad- 
ministration. The  method  pursued  has  been  that 
of  having  a  committee  of  three,  each  a  member  of  a 
different  church,  to  call  by  turn  from  the  towns 
near  by  the  ministers  of  the  various  denominations. 
Further  details  of  the  plans  provide  for  the  committee 
to  raise  funds  so  that  the  minister  may  be  paid  a 
definite  amount  for  the  service  conducted. 

One  of  the  first  essential  steps  in  the  establishment 
of  a  rural  church  is  a  careful  survey  or  study  of  the 
situation.  While  it  may  be  accounted  a  sin  against 
God  and  humanity  to  add  another  church  where  there 
are  already  more  than  the  people  can  support,  often 
it  will  be  found  that  very  large,  well  populated 
country  districts  are  wholly  without  access  to  any 
religious  service  whatever.  Verily,  the  field  is 
white  unto  the  harvest  and  the  laborers  as  yet  are 
few. 


Room  at  the  Bottom  89 

A   MISTAKE   IN   TRAINING 

Too  long  we  have  been  training  young  people  in 
the  school  and  in  the  home  to  struggle  for  the  best 
of  everything  —  a  sort  of  rivalry  that  results  in 
envy,  jealousy,  and  strife,  and  a  falling  apart  where 
there  should  be  cooperation  and  sympathy  and  a 
spirit  of  mutual  helpfulness.  The  craze  for  clothes, 
the  glare  of  the  electric  lights,  and  the  lure  of  the 
cheap  theater  have  struck  the  country  people  and 
are  drawing  away  much  of  the  best  young  blood 
there.  It  seems  that  we  have  over-done  this  thing 
of  pointing  to  the  top  and  urging  our  young  people 
to  scramble  for  that,  until  as  a  result  no  one  is 
looking  for  a  place  to  serve,  while  all  are  looking  for 
a  place  to  shine.  Now,  there  may  be  "plenty  of 
room  at  the  top"  for  selfish  scrambling,  but  in  some 
respects  the  top  is  woefully  over-crowded.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  good  room 
at  the  bottom,  acres  of  it,  and  we  might  well  com- 
mend it  to  every  one  who  may  be  imbued  with  the 
idea  of  doing  some  effective  work  in  the  world. 
All  over  the  broad,  open  country,  in  thousands  of 
rural  districts,  the  situation  at  the  bottom  is  literally 
crying  out  for  constructive  workers  who  will  come  in 
there  with  their  good  courage,  their  scientific  train- 
ing, and  in  the  name  of  the  Most  High  get  down 
among  the  people  and  the  common  things  in  the 
midst  of  which  the  people  live  and  lay  a  substantial 


90      The  Rural  Church  and  the  Young  People 

foundation  for  a  new  and  beautiful  structure  —  an 
edifice  erected  out  of  the  plain  materials  to  be  found 
in  any  ordinary  rural  community,  and  that  by  means 
of  transforming  such  things  and  making  them 
contributive  to  the  high  and  lofty  spirit-purposes 
for  which  they  are  really  designed. 

Rural  child-rearing 

We  are  not  half  awake  as  yet  to  the  meaning  and 
possibilities  of  the  rural  community  as  a  place 
for  rearing  children.  The  city  environment  ripens 
youths  too  fast  and  too  early  and  works  all  the 
spontaneity  and  aggressiveness  out  of  the  boys 
and  girls  before  their  mature  judgments  are  ready 
to  function.  As  a  result  of  this  city  hot-bed,  we 
have  as  a  type  the  blase  sort  of  young  man,  and  a 
young  woman  who  is  overly  smart  in  respect  to  the 
"proper  things  to  do."  Either  of  them  has  little 
power  of  initiative  and  less  power  of  persistence. 
One  of  the  greatest  virtues  of  the  somewhat  isolated 
rural  home  is  that  it  matures  human  character  more 
slowly  and  keeps  the  boys  and  girls  fresh  and  "green" 
and  spontaneous  while  there  is  being  gradually 
worked  into  their  characters  the  habit  of  industry 
and  the  power  of  doing  constructive  work. 

If  one  should  desire  to  obtain  a  sterling  specimen 
of  manhood,  he  would  not  take  up  with  the  "smart" 
city  youth  who  at  the  age  of  sixteen  has  had  all 
the  experiences  known  to  men.    The  latter  is  too 


The  Moral  Giant  91 

ripe.  He  knows  it  all.  From  his  own  point  of  view, 
his  knowledge  of  the  world  is  nearly  completed.  No, 
one  would  prefer  to  go  to  the  most  remote  country 
district  and,  if  need  be,  lasso  some  green,  gawky, 
sixteen-year-old  who  is  afraid  of  the  cars  and  the 
big  girls  and  who  has  never  had  a  suit  of  clothes  that 
fits  him.  This  scared,  unbroken  youth  would  go 
through  a  tremendous  amount  of  rough-and-tumble, 
trial-and-error  experiences  during  the  course  of  his 
college  training;  and  he  would  live  intensively  and 
rush  into  many  unknown  places  and  commit  many 
blunders,  between  whiles  catching  countless  in- 
spiring visions  of  how  he  might  be  or  become  a  man 
of  great  strength  and  ruggedness  of  character. 
Such  a  man  might  be  relied  upon  to  shoulder  the 
heavy  burdens  of  the  world.  Such  a  man  could  be 
called  out  to  join  in  the  forefront  of  battle  when  the 
moral  and  religious  rights  of  the  people  were  at  issue. 
Such  a  man  when  fully  matured  could  be  sent  into 
some  kind  of  missionary  field  and  be  expected  to 
labor  there  for  a  long  time  alone,  courageous  and 
persistent,  finally  winning  a  very  small  following ; 
then  a  larger  number  of  adherents ;  and  then  the 
entire  population  at  his  heels,  applauding  and  back- 
ing him  up  in  his  every  worthy  effort. 

The  author  has  long  had  a  vision  of  a  man  trained 
and  developed  through  the  seasoning  experiences 
just  sketched  and  who,  under  the  inspiration  and  the 
guidance  of  the  Most  High,  will  go  into  these  rural 


92      The  Rural  Church  and  the  Young  People 

communities  which  are  latent  with  material  life, 
and  there  begin  his  labors  in  behalf  of  the  higher 
things  into  which  all  the  elements  of  this  typical 
rural  situation  may  be  transformed.  Just  as  fast 
as  men  hear  this  divine  call  and  heed  it  and  take  up 
this  work,  so  fast  will  our  country  life  be  recon- 
structed and  the  best  that  is  in  our  society  become 
gloriously  transformed  and  everlastingly  saved  as  a 
heritage  of  the  oncoming  generations.  And  it  is 
evident  that  the  rural  minister,  working  through 
the  rural  church,  is  the  person  to  whom  this  divine  call 
may  most  naturally  come. 

The  churches  too  narrow 

Not  a  few  of  the  country  churches  are  too  narrow 
in  their  limitations,  tending  to  chill  out  those  who  do 
not  happen  to  be  adherents  of  the  creed,  and  to 
foster  dissensions  and  hatred  among  neighbors. 
And  they  are  not  touching  in  a  vital  way  the  lives 
of  country  boys  and  girls. 

It  will  be  agreed  that  the  gospel  of  the  Master  of 
men  may  be  made  so  broad  and  inviting  as  to  attract 
all  who  have  a  spark  of  religion  in  their  natures, 
and  that  means  practically  every  one  in  the  commu- 
nity. But  there  is  no  good  reason  why  the  rural 
church  should  stand  alone  as  such.  It  should  and 
can  be  made  a  social  as  well  as  a  religious  center  for 
the  whole  community.  So,  let  there  be  constructed 
a  modern  building  with  big  windows,  and  several 


Plate  IX. 


Constructive  Work  of  the  Church  93 

apartments  for  Sunday  school  classes,  and  for  meet- 
ings of  social  groups,  such  as  the  grange,  the  farmers' 
institute,  the  sewing  society,  and  the  literary  and 
debating  clubs.  Then  there  should  be  apparatus 
for  the  preparation  of  meals,  with  a  room  in  which  a 
long  table  might  be  spread  as  occasion  demands. 
Outside  of  this  building  there  should  be  a  children's 
playground  with  some  simple  apparatus  for  play. 

Not  less  frequently  than  one  afternoon  of  the 
month  —  and  twice  would  be  better  —  the  people 
of  the  community  should  drop  everything  and  come 
together  for  a  good  social  time  and  a  general  ex- 
change of  ideas.  On  an  occasion  of  this  kind  the 
town  minister  could  be  present  or  someone  from 
the  outside  who  would  bring  with  him  at  least  one 
helpful  and  practical  idea  about  building  up  country 
life.  Let  this  building  be  regarded  as  the  property  of 
every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  community  and 
strive  to  bring  it  to  pass  that  the  legitimate  and  worthy 
interest  of  all  shall  be  actually  served  there. 

Constructive  work  of  the  church 

This  country  church  here  thought  of  need  be  no 
less  a  religious  affair,  but  it  must  become  distinc- 
tively a  socializing  agency.  It  must  not  merely  save 
souls,  but  it  must  save  and  conserve  and  develop 
for  this  present  life  the  bodily,  the  moral,  and  the 
intellectual  powers  of  the  young.  One  cannot  ade- 
quately develop  those  splendid  latent  powers  in  young 


94      The  Rural  Church  and  the  Young  People 

people  solely  by  means  of  teaching  them  the  Sunday 
school  lesson  or  preaching  to  them,  no  matter  how 
true  the  gospel  may  be.  The  evidence  is  ample 
to  show  that  boys  and  girls  who  attend  church  and 
Sunday  school  are  nevertheless  falling  into  many 
vicious  habits  of  conduct,  and  are  growing  up  without 
many  of  the  forms  of  discipline  and  training  essential 
for  stable  Christian  character  and  social  and  moral 
efficiency.  In  fact  as  a  means  of  temporal  salvation 
the  old-fashioned  church  and  Sunday  school  are 
proving  more  and  more  a  failure. 

Now,  as  soon  as  the  church  realizes  the  meaning 
of  the  foregoing  situation  and  acts  accordingly,  just 
so  soon  will  this  splendid  old  institution  be  enabled 
to  do  efficient  work  in  vitalizing  the  practical  affairs 
of  the  community  in  which  it  is  located.  To  illus- 
trate this  point :  The  great  curse  of  boyhood  to- 
day is  the  tobacco  habit,  and  this  vitiating  practice 
is  slowly  working  its  way  among  the  country  youth. 
The  youth  who  acquires  the  smoking  habit  before 
becoming  physically  matured  thereby  depletes  his 
physical  health  to  a  marked  degree,  reduces  his 
mental  efficiency  ten  to  fifty  per  cent,  and  almost 
completely  destroys  his  power  of  initiative.  Such 
a  youth  is  never  found  contending  for  any  moral 
issue  or  any  high  and  worthy  cause  of  the  people. 
His  constructive  instinct  is  made  more  quiescent, 
while  his  disposition  to  condone  evil  is  greatly  and 
permanently  increased.     Boys   who   attend   church 


New  Work  in  the  Church  95 

and  Sunday  school  are  also,  like  others,  falling  vic- 
tims to  the  sex  evils  of  various  forms. 

An  innovation  in  the  rural  church 

Perhaps  there  is  no  better  illustration  of  how  the 
economic  affairs  of  the  neighborhood  may  be  vitally 
linked  with  the  church  service  than  the  work  carried 
on  under  the  direction  of  Superintendent  George 
W.  Brown,  of  Paris,  Illinois.  During  one  year  Mr. 
Brown  conducted  on  seven  different  occasions  an 
over-Sunday  program,  somewhat  as  follows :  — 

On  Saturday  either  at  the  country  school  house  or 
in  the  basement  of  the  country  church  there  was 
arranged  an  exhibition  of  corn,  while  during  the 
day  class  exercises  in  the  study  of  corn  were  in 
progress.  On  the  day  following,  Sunday,  there  were 
two  sermons,  the  theme  of  each  being  closely  allied 
to  the  economic  problems  studied  the  day  previ- 
ously. The  ministers  are  reported  to  have  cooperated 
enthusiastically  in  this  work,  each  one  attempting 
in  his  sermon  to  show  how  better  economic  life 
may  be  made  contributive  to  a  better  religious 
life. 

On  the  Monday  following,  the  program  was  con- 
tinued with  a  farmers'  institute  representative  of  the 
several  interests  of  the  adults  and  the  young  people. 
At  this  Monday  meeting  a  number  of  the  faculty 
of  the  state  university  were  in  attendance  and  gave 
helpful  addresses  appropriate  to  the  occasion.     At 


96      The  Rural  Church  and  the  Young  People 

night  the  County  Superintendent  gave  an  illustrated 
lecture,  using  the  stereopticon  to  show  the  audience 
just  what  was  being  done  in  the  various  parts  of 
the  county  and  country  by  way  of  improvement  of 
the  social  and  economic  conditions. 

In  many  places  in  the  New  England  and  other 
eastern  states  the  rural  communities  are  attacking 
the  social-religious  problems  in  practically  the  same 
manner  as  is  being  done  at  Plainfield,  Illinois.  At 
Danbury,  New  Hampshire,  there  is  a  Country  Set- 
tlement Association,  which  is  accomplishing  some 
epoch-making  things.  At  the  official  building  there 
is  provided  a  trained  nurse  to  assist  the  entire 
community.  The  organization  conducts  social- 
betterment  work  for  the  local  neighborhood  and 
leads  in  a  campaign  for  social  reform  throughout 
the  state. 

Likewise,  at  Lincoln,  Vermont,  there  is  an  in- 
teresting example  of  cooperation  between  the  reli- 
gious and  social  interests.  Three  churches  have 
formed  a  federated  society.  In  a  building  main- 
tained in  common  by  them,  the  meetings  of  the 
Ladies'  Aid  Society,  the  Good  Templars,  the 
Grange,  the  Grand  Army  Post,  and  many  others 
of  a  social  nature  are  held.  Such  cooperative  work 
is  certain  to  have  a  helpful  and  far-reaching  effect 
on  any  community. 


Plate    X. 


Combine  the  Religious  and  the  Social         97 

Spiritualize  child  life 

Above  all  things  else,  let  the  country  church  be 
reorganized  with  reference  to  the  interests  of  the 
young.  Let  the  minister  and  the  other  leaders  take  a 
firm  stand  for  a  square  deal  for  the  farm  boys  and 
girls  in  respect  to  work  and  play  and  sociability. 
Let  them  place  before  country  parents  clear,  concrete 
models  and  methods  as  to  how  to  accord  fair  treat- 
ment to  the  children  in  every  particular  thing.  Let 
them  organize  the  young  people  of  the  community 
into  groups  for  play  and  sociability  and  direct  them 
in  both  of  these  matters. 

It  is  high  time  we  were  considering  all  of  our  legiti- 
mate interests  as  a  part  of  our  religion.  Indeed, 
there  is  no  good  reason  why  the  young  people  could 
not  meet  together  at  the  rural  church  and  on  the 
same  evening  have  an  oyster  supper  and  a  prayer 
meeting.  They  could  very  consistently  discuss  and 
participate  in  both  a  temporal  and  a  spiritual  affair 
on  the  same  occasion  and  in  such  a  way  that  each 
part  of  the  program  would  be  vitalized  by  the  others. 
And  likewise  the  smaller  children.  It  should  not  be 
considered  at  all  irreverent  for  one  to  go  directly 
with  them  to  the  playground  after  the  Sunday  school 
lesson  is  ended  and  there  lead  and  direct  them  in  their 
health-giving  enjoyments.  Try  this  in  your  rural- 
church  society  centers  and  see  if  the  boys  and  girls 
do  not  run  with  great  enthusiasm  to  the  whole  affair. 


98      The  Rural  Church  and  the  Young  People 

One  great  error  committed  by  many  of  us  in  the 
past  is  that  of  regarding  work  and  things  as  arbi- 
trarily high  or  low.  But  the  author  does  not  see 
why  plowing  corn  may  not  be  made  just  as  sacred 
and  just  as  divine  a  calling  as  preaching  the  gospel, 
provided  the  former  be  regarded  in  the  light  of  serv- 
ice of  some  high  spiritual  purpose ;  as  indeed  it  may 
be.  So,  here  is  a  distinctive  part  of  the  function  of 
the  rural  church ;  namely,  to  spiritualize  work  as  well 
as  workers  —  to  urge  upon  the  attention  of  the  rural 
inhabitants  the  thought  that  their  work  must  all 
be  regarded  as  a  means  to  the  transformation  of  the 
community  life  and  of  each  individual  life  into  a 
thing  of  transcendent  worth  and  beauty. 

A   SUMMARY 

Now,  here  is  the  proposed  plan  in  a  nutshell. 
The  country  community  is  the  best  place  in  the  world 
for  bringing  up  a  sturdy  race  of  men  and  women  and 
the  country  church  is  or  can  be  made  one  of  the 
greatest  agencies  in  the  achievement  of  this  work. 
But  such  achievement  can  best  be  brought  about 
only  when  the  country  church  goes  to  work  to  save 
the  whole  boy  and  the  whole  girl.  And  that  means 
that  the  church  must  understand  better  how  human 
life  grows  up  —  that  it  must  meet  these  growing  boys 
and  girls  on  their  own  level  of  everyday  interest  and 
socialize  and  spiritualize  these  interests  through  close 
contact  with  them.     Then,  make  the  rural  church  a 


The  Country  Church  for  All  99 

social  center  for  the  young,  including  exercises  in 
work  and  play  and  recreation,  as  well  as  a  place  for 
religious  instruction.  The  child  is  a  creature  of 
activity  and  not  of  passivity.  You  cannot  preach 
him  into  the  kingdom  in  a  lifetime ;  but  you  can  get 
down  with  him  and  work  with  him  and  play  with  him 
and  guide  and  direct  him  through  his  self-chosen, 
everyday  interests,  to  the  end  that  he  may  after- 
wards enter  the  ranks  of  the  Lord's  anointed. 

Again,  it  is  urged,  make  your  country  church  a 
center  for  the  entire  life  of  the  community.  Not 
only  have  the  adults  bring  their  practical  affairs  to 
this  center  for  consideration,  but  have  the  boys  and 
girls  come  with  their  implements  of  work  and  play, 
with  their  specimens  of  farm  and  home  produce 
and  handiwork,  with  their  miniature  menageries  and 
workshops  —  all  this  with  joy  and  reverence  before 
and  after  the  religious  services. 


REFERENCES 

Efficient  Democracy.  W.  H.  Allen.  Chapter  X,  "Efficiency  in  Re- 
ligious Work."     Dodd,  Mead  &  Co. 

Rural  Christendom.  Charles  Roads.  Prize  Essay.  American  Sunday- 
School  Union,  Philadelphia. 

Report  of  the  Commission  on  Country  Life,  pp.  137-144,  Sturgis- 
Walton  Co. 

The  Country  Church  and  the  Library-  John  Colton  Dana.  Outlook, 
May  6,  1911. 

The  Country  Church  and  the  Rural  Problem.  Kenyon  L.  Butterfield. 
University  of  Chicago  Press.  A  strong^  presentation  of  the  entire 
situation. 


100    The  Rural  Church  and  the  Young  People 

The  Rural  Church  and  Community  Development.     President  Kenyon  L. 

Butterfield.    The  Association  Press,  New  York.      A  collection  of 

practical  papers  and  discussions  on  several  important  topics. 
The  Day  of  the  Country  Church.     J.  O.  Ashenhurst.     Funk  &  Wagnalls 

Co.,  New  York.     Read  especially  the  excellent  chapter  on  "Leader- 
ship." 
The    Church    and    the    Rural    Community.     Symposium.    American 

Journal  of  Sociology.    March,  1911. 
Philanthropy,  A  Trained  Profession.     Lewis.    Forum,  March,  1910. 
Rural  Manhood.    The  Association  Press,  New  York.     Monthly.     This 

magazine  publishes  many  excellent  articles  on  the  Rural  Church. 
The  Inefficient  Minister.     Literary  Digest,  April  10,  1909.     A  report  of 

the  criticisms  of  Dr.  Henry  S.  Pritchett,  of  the  Carnegie  Foundation, 

and  Dr.  Henry  Aked,  of  San  Francisco. 
World's  Work,  December,  1910.     An  interesting  account  of  Reverend 

Matthew  McNutt's  work  in  building  up  a  country  church. 
The  Country  Church.     George  F.  Wells,  in  Cyclopedia  of  American 

Agriculture,  by  L.  H.  Bailey,  volume  IV,  page  297. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF  THE  RURAL 
SCHOOL 

The  country  districts  are  slowly  waking  up  to  an 
appreciation  of  the  fact  that  within  their  bounds  lie, 
not  only  all  the  elements  fundamental  to  the  material 
wealth  of  the  world,  but  that  they  also  contain  in  a 
more  or  less  dormant  form  all  the  essential  factors  of 
intellectual  and  spiritual  wealth.  The  rural  school 
is  theoretically  the  best  place  on  earth  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  child,  not  only  because  of  its  close  proxim- 
ity to  the  sources  of  material  wealth,  but  because  of 
the  openness  and  comparative  freedom  of  its  sur- 
roundings. Then,  the  country  school  is  especially 
effective  as  a  place  of  instruction  on  account  of  its 
happy  relation  to  work  and  industry.  Too  often  the 
boys  and  girls  of  the  town  school  go  unwillingly  to 
their  class  rooms  with  the  feeling  that  the  lessons  are 
heavily  imposed  tasks. 

But  in  the  typical  country  school  the  pupils  are 
young  persons  who  have  already  experienced  much  of 
the  strain  of  work  and  who  go  somewhat  eagerly  to 
the  schoolroom,  because  it  is  in  a  sense  recreative  to 
them,  and  because  of  their  being  in  a  position  to  see 

101 


102     The  Transformation  of  the  Rural  School 

more  clearly  what  substantial  training  is  to  mean  to 
them  in  the  future.  That  is  to  say,  a  distinctive 
difference  between  the  typical  country  child  and  the 
typical  city  child  is  this  :  the  former  believes  that  he 
is  pursuing  the  course  of  instruction  in  a  more  volun- 
tary spirit  and  for  the  sake  of  his  own  personal  in- 
terests and  upbuilding,  while  the  latter  is  inclined 
to  feel  that  he  is  performing  the  school  tasks  for  the 
sake  of  some  one  else  and  because  of  the  strict  re- 
quirements of  outside  force  or  law. 

Radical  changes  in  the  view-point  and  method 

But  if  the  theoretic  worth  of  the  rural  school  is 
to  be  made  at  all  actual,  some  very  radical  changes  in 
view-point  and  method  must  come  to  pass.  First 
of  all,  we  must  keep  asking  the  question,  What  is 
education  for  ?  And  perhaps  we  must  accept  the 
answer  that  in  its  best  form  education  serves  the 
higher  needs  and  requirements  of  the  life  we  are 
trying  to  live  to-day.  In  case  of  rural  teachers  and 
parents  it  has  been  too  common  a  practice  to  urge 
the  child  on  in  his  lesson-getting  with  the  statement, 
or  at  least  the  suggestion,  that  lessons  well  mastered 
in  time  furnish  a  guarantee  of  a  life  of  comparative 
ease  and  freedom  from  heavy  toil.  The  sermonette 
preached  to  the  boy  in  this  situation  is  too  often 
substantially  as  follows:  "Go  on,  my  boy,  master 
your  lessons,  pass  up  through  the  grades,  and  be 
graduated.    Behold  So  and  So,  a  great  captain  of 


All  Have  a  Right  to  Culture  103 

wealth,  and  such  and  such  a  one,  a  great  statesman. 
Now,  these  persons  are  in  a  position  to  take  life 
easy.  They  have  wealth  to  spend  for  the  employ- 
ment of  labor  and  need  to  do  little  of  such  thing 
themselves." 

In  other  words,  the  view-point  of  the  school  has 
been  radically  wrong.  We  have  been  advancing 
the  idea  that  education  enables  one  to  get  out  of 
work,  whereas  we  should  have  been  urging  that 
education  of  the  right  sort  enables  one  to  get  into 
work.  That  is,  it  means  enlarged  capacity  for  work 
and  service  and  proportionately  enlarged  joy  and  con- 
tentment in  the  performance  of  worthy  work  of  any 
nature  whatsoever.  Let  rural  parents  once  incul- 
cate the  last-named  point  of  view  upon  their  grow- 
ing boys  and  girls  and  the  attitude  of  the  latter 
toward  the  school  and  its  tasks  will  be  likewise  radi- 
cally changed. 

All  have  a  right  to  culture 

And  then,  a  second  question  we  need  to  ask  our- 
selves is,  Whom  is  education  for  ?  or,  What  classes 
should  have  the  benefits  of  it  ?  A  close  comparison 
of  the  school  ideals  of  twenty-five  years  ago  with  the 
most  progressive  ones  of  to-day  reveals  a  surprising 
situation.  Without  seemingly  realizing  the  fact, 
we  continued  for  generations  in  this  country  to  tax 
ourselves  heavily  for  the  purpose  of  supporting 
schools  almost  exclusively  in  behalf  of  the  so-called 


104      The  Transformation  of  the  Rural  School 

professional  classes.  We  said,  especially  to  the  grow- 
ing boy:  "Now,  if  you  wish  to  become  a  lawyer,  a 
physician,  a  minister,  or  a  teacher,  here  is  your  op- 
portunity. Pursue  this  well-arranged  course,  finish 
it  up,  and  that  all  at  our  expense.  But  if  you  wish 
to  become  a  farmer,  a  merchant,  a  craftsman  of  any 
sort,  then  this  institution  is  not  at  your  service. 
We  will  teach  you  to  read  and  write  and  cipher,  after 
which  you  may  look  out  for  yourself."  Thus  we  were 
taxing  the  masses  for  the  exclusive  education  of  a 
few  classes.  To-day  the  best  ideal  is  a  radically 
different  one,  as  it  attempts  to  serve  all  worthy 
classes  and  vocations  through  the  school  adminis- 
tration. It  assumes  that  artisans  as  well  as  artists 
and  the  professional  classes  have  the  same  inherent 
right  to  both  the  practical  aid  and  the  direct  culture 
which  an  educational  course  may  furnish. 

As  a  practical  result  of  this  new  ideal,  now  rapidly 
advancing  throughout  the  country,  we  are  about  to 
have  an  age  of  cultured  farmers,  high-minded  stock 
raisers,  refined  architects  and  builders,  and  so  on. 
That  is,  our  newest  and  best  educational  courses 
are  beginning  to  provide  the  means  and  opportunities 
for  the  education  of  all  worthy  classes.  So  it  behooves 
all  interested  rural  parents  to  turn  their  best  efforts 
toward  the  transformation  and  the  betterment  of  the 
country  school.  Certain  specific  achievements  in 
relation  thereto  are  now  being  planned  for  and  in 
many  instances  accomplished.     Let  every  one  con- 


A  Longer  School  Term  Needed  105 

cerned  take  notice  of  this  situation  and  join  with  all 
possible  earnestness  in  the  forward  movement. 

In  his  instructive  monograph  entitled  "Changing 
Conceptions  of  Education,"  Professor  E.  P.  Cubberley 
states  the  new  ideal  as  follows :  — 

"The  school  is  essentially  a  time-  and  labor-sav- 
ing device,  created  —  with  us  —  by  democracy  to 
serve  democracy's  needs.  To  convey  to  the  next 
generation  the  knowledge  and  the  accumulated  ex- 
perience of  the  past  is  not  its  only  function.  It 
must  equally  prepare  the  future  citizen  for  the  to- 
morrow of  our  complex  life.  The  school  must  grasp 
the  significance  of  its  social  connections  and  rela- 
tions, and  must  come  to  realize  that  its  real  worth 
and  its  hope  of  adequate  reward  lie  in  its  social 
efficiency.  There  are  many  reasons  for  believing 
that  this  change  is  taking  place  rapidly  at  present, 
and  that  an  educational  sociology,  needed  as  much 
by  teachers  to-day  as  an  educational  psychology,  is 
now  in  the  process  of  being  formulated  for  our  use." 

Work  for  a  longer  term 

One  of  the  first  steps  toward  a  more  helpful  school- 
ing for  the  country  youth  is  that  of  lengthening  the 
yearly  school  term.  In  many  thousands  of  instances, 
the  country  school  is  conducted  for  only  three  to  five 
months  during  the  year,  and  even  this  short  term  is 
indifferently  attended.  But  the  actual  length  of  the 
year  should  be  seven  months  or  more.     Many  of  the 


106     The  Transformation  of  the  Rural  School 

country  districts  can  easily  provide  for  eight  months. 
The  farmer  should  not  concern  himself  about  a  small 
additional  tax,  but  should  have  in  mind  rather  the 
larger  additional  gain  to  the  well-being  of  the  young 
in  the  community.  If  the  local  tax  be  not  sufficient 
for  supporting  a  longer  term  and  a  better  school, 
then  seek  to  have  laws  authorizing  the  distribution 
of  state  aid  to  the  weaker  districts.  This  law  has 
been  actually  passed  in  a  number  of  the  common- 
wealths. The  act  in  the  usual  case  provides  a  general 
school  fund  out  of  which  the  deficit  for  the  smaller 
rural  districts  may  be  made  up. 

Compulsory  attendance  laws  needed 

The  far-seeing  country  dweller  will  be  glad  to  join 
in  a  movement  in  behalf  of  compulsory  attendance  at 
the  public  schools.  Already  a  number  of  states  have 
enacted  fairly  good  laws  on  this  subject,  but  some 
of  them  allow  "loopholes"  providing  for  the  too 
easy  avoidance  of  their  requirements.  Perhaps  the 
best  and  most  effective  type  of  law  of  this  class  is 
that  which  requires  the  child  under  fourteen  years  of 
age  to  attend  the  entire  term  of  the  public  schools, 
allowing  for  his  absence  only  in  case  of  sickness  or  in 
cases  where  it  is  shown  upon  investigation  and  be- 
yond question  that  he  is  the  main  support  and  bread- 
winner of  a  family. 

In  connection  with  the  legal  requirements  for  com- 
pulsory attendance,  there  must,  of  course,  be  provi- 


Better  Schoolhouses  107 

sion  for  the  truant.  Truant  officers,  who  may  be  re- 
quired to  serve  only  part  time  and  who  may  receive 
pay  for  actual  services,  are  set  over  specified  dis- 
tricts and  required  to  bring  in  all  truant  school 
children.  Although  this  compulsory  attendance  law 
has  been  in  force  only  a  few  years,  reports  show  an 
almost  unanimous  belief  in  its  effectiveness.  The 
reader  will  understand  the  justification  of  sUch  a 
law  to  be  this;  namely,  the  inherent  right  of  the 
child  to  be  educated  whether  he  may  appreciate  such 
right  or  advantage  or  not,  and  the  implied  right  of  the 
community  to  have  his  best  service  as  a  well-educated 
member  of  society.  The  effects  upon  crime  and 
criminality  of  the  neglect  of  the  education  of  the 
young  have  been  so  thoroughly  discussed  of  late  as 
to  require  no  restatement  here. 

Better  schoolhouses  and  equipment 

A  survey  of  the  entire  country  from  one  side  to 
another  reveals  a  deplorable  state  of  affairs  in  respect 
to  the  conditions  of  the  typical  rural  schoolhouse. 
In  thousands  of  cases,  there  is  nothing  more  than  a 
dingy,  little,  old  one-room  building,  scarcely  suitable 
as  a  place  wherein  to  shelter  chickens  or  pigs,  and 
with  nothing  in  the  surroundings  to  suggest  or  even 
hint  at  a  place  where  young  minds  are  taught  how  to 
aim  at  the  high  things  of  life.  Now,  these  crude 
structures  were  once  a  necessity.  In  pioneer  days 
the   little,   old   box  schoolhouse,   or  even   the   sod 


108     The  Transformation  of  the  Rural  School 

structure,  served  a  mighty  purpose  in  the  transforma- 
tion of  the  plains  and  the  wilderness.  But  times  are 
now  radically  changed.  The  wealth  of  the  country 
is  abundant.  Improvements  of  nearly  every  other 
sort  have  gone  on  as  the  times  advanced.  But  too 
often  the  little,  old  cheap  schoolhouse  on  the  bleak 
country  slope  became  a  fixed  habit.  In  setting 
forth  plans  for  a  newer  and  better  country  school 
building,  the  author  cannot  improve  upon  those 
prepared  by  E.  T.  Fairchild,  State  Superintendent 
of  Public  Instruction  in  Kansas,  and  published  in  his 
Seventeenth  Biennial  Report.  We  therefore  quote 
as  follows :  — 

1.  Location.  —  "In  selecting  a  site  for  a  school 
building,  the  questions  of  drainage,  convenience, 
beauty  of  surroundings,  and  accessibility  should 
have  prime  consideration.  Select,  if  possible,  some 
plat  of  ground  slightly  elevated,  and  of  which  the 
surface  may  be  properly  drained  and  kept  free  from 
mud.  It  should  be  especially  seen  to  that  water 
may  not  stand  under  the  building.  If  the  elevation 
is  not  sufficient,  this  trouble  should  be  overcome  by 
proper  filling  in  beneath  the  building.  The  location 
should  be  as  nearly  as  possible  central  with  refer- 
ence to  the  pupils  of  the  district.  But  other  things 
should  also  be  considered.  It  is  better  that  some 
pupils  should  be  put  to  a  slight  disadvantage  than 
that  attractiveness  of  surroundings,  remoteness 
from    environment    likely    to    interfere    with    the 


Plate  XI. 


Fig.  12.  —  A  cozy  little  country  schoolhouse  in  the  tall,  picturesque 
woods  of  California. 


Fig.  13.  —  This  model  country  school  building,  planned  by  State 
Superintendent  E.  T.  Fairchild,  of  Kansas,  is  being  copied  in 
many  places. 


Ideal  School  Grounds  109 

work  of  the  school,  or  other  essentials,  should  be 
sacrificed." 

2.  The  water  supply.  —  The  purity  of  the  water 
supply  for  the  school  is  no  less  important  from  the 
standpoint  of  health  than  that  of  the  air  supply. 
The  greatest  danger  lies  in  the  use  of  water  taken  from 
wells  that  are  used  only  a  portion  of  the  year.  Such 
water  is  certain  to  become  stagnant.  In  the  autumn 
before  the  term  commences  special  care  should  be 
taken  to  pump  all  water  out  of  the  well  and  to  clean 
the  same  if  necessary;  thereby  much  sickness  may 
be  avoided.  The  well,  of  course,  should  be  so  lo- 
cated as  to  avoid  any  contamination  owing  to  vaults 
or  drains. 

3.  Size  and  adaptation  of  grounds.  —  The  school 
grounds  should  contain  at  least  three  acres,  and  five 
acres  would  not  be  too  much.  While  the  cities  are 
cramped  for  playgrounds  and  purchase  them  only  at 
a  high  cost,  the  latter  can  be  secured  in  the  country 
in  sufficient  size  and  at  a  relatively  small  expense. 
Let  it  be  kept  constantly  in  mind  that  the  school 
grounds  should  be  adapted  for  play,  that  they  should 
afford  a  protection  from  winds,  and  that  they  should 
also  be  attractive.  They  should  likewise  be  adapted 
for  school  gardening  and  experiments  in  agriculture. 
For  the  purpose  of  play,  the  breadth  should  exceed 
the  depth  where  there  are  separate  grounds  for  boys 
and  girls.  Where  the  playground  is  large,  the  build- 
ing should  be  centrally  located  with  relation  to  the 


110     The  Transformation  of  the  Rural  School 

size  of  the  grounds  and  should  be  situated  well  toward 
the  front.  This  will  provide  two  fair-sized  and  well- 
proportioned  playgrounds.  Where  the  grounds  are 
small  and  contain  but  one  acre,  symmetry  must  yield 
to  utility  and  the  building  should  be  located  well 
to  the  front  and  to  one  side,  so  as  to  leave  one  well- 
arranged  playground. 

4.  Improvement  of  school  grounds.  —  In  writing 
of  the  value  of  well-arranged  school  grounds,  Pro- 
fessor Albert  Dickens  of  the  Kansas  State  Agricul- 
tural College  says :  — 

"This  sermon  on  school  ground  improvement  is 
one  that  I  have  tried  to  preach  for  some  time.  In 
my  judgment,  it  is  the  most  important  and  the  most 
difficult  of  any  of  the  problems  in  civic  improvement. 
The  average  country  cemetery  is  sorrowfully  neglected, 
as  a  rule,  but  its  treatment  is  careful  and  generous 
compared  with  the  school  grounds  of  the  average 
country  district.  Some  day  we  shall  realize  that  all 
these  factors  of  environment  are  formative  influences, 
and  shall  not  wonder  that  the  character  formed  in 
surroundings  devoid  of  beauty  has  hard,  coarse,  and 
cruel  lines  in  its  make-up. 

"It  is  an  easy  matter  to  picture  an  ideal  country 
school  —  its  clean-swept  walk  to  the  road,  its  ample 
playground,  its  windbreak  of  evergreens,  its  groups 
of  hard-  and  soft-wood  species,  borders  of  shrubs  and 
beds  of  bulbs  for  early  spring  and  perennials  for 
summer  and  fall.     But  to  get  it  —  to  find  some  way  to 


Improving  the  School  Grounds  111 

overcome  the  serious  obstacles  —  is  worthy  the  atten- 
tion of  statesmen  and  club  women. 

"Nearly  every  district  has  made  an  attempt. 
That  is  one  of  the  hard  things  to  forget  —  one  of  the 
reasons  so  many  districts  fear  to  try  again.  They 
had  a  spasm  of  civic  righteousness  —  an  Arbor  Day 
revival  —  and  every  patron  dug  a  hole  in  the  hard, 
dry  ground;  every  child  brought  a  tree,  some  of 
which  were  carried  for  miles  with  the  roots  exposed 
to  sun  and  wind  —  and  then  they  were  planted  and, 
in  some  cases,  watered  for  the  summer;  and  the 
days  grew  warm  and  the  weeds  grew  high;  and  by 
the  next  fall  the  two  or  three  trees  yet  alive  were  not 
noticed  when  the  director  went  over  with  his  mower 
the  Friday  before  school  opened ;  and  so  ended  that 
attempt  at  a  schoolyard  beautiful. 

"It  ought  to  be  possible  to  convince  the  patrons  of 
every  district  that  a  single  acre  of  land  is  not  suffi- 
cient ground  upon  which  to  grow  big,  bright,  broad- 
minded  boys  and  girls;  that  two,  or  three,  or  four 
acres  of  land,  well  planned  as  to  baseball  diamond, 
basketball  court  and  a  good  free  run  for  dare-base  and 
pull-away  —  that  such  would  give  the  state  and  the 
world  better  results  than  if  the  land  were  devoted  to 
corn  and  alfalfa.  This,  I  believe,  is  the  first  problem 
of  great  magnitude  —  to  get  the  ground  —  and  it 
must  be  considered.  Children  must  play.  The  noon 
hour,  when  they  eat  for  five  minutes  and  play 
fifty-five  minutes,  is  all-important  in  a  child's  life." 


112     The  Transformation  of  the  Rural  School 

In  order  to  carry  out  the  suggestions  given  by 
Professor  Dickens,  why  not  organize  a  general  rally, 
perhaps  on  the  occasion  of  Arbor  Day,  and  all  hands 
join  in  preparing  and  planting  the  school  grounds  to 
suitable  shade  trees,  shrubs,  and  the  like  ?  The  play- 
grounds could  also  be  laid  out  and  equipped  on  this 
occasion.  Then,  after  this  excellent  start  has  been 
made,  have  the  school  board  appoint  some  reliable 
man  as  caretaker  of  the  grounds  with  payment  of 
reasonable  wages  for  what  he  does.  Thus  the  good 
beginning  will  not  be  lost. 

A   MODEL  RURAL   SCHOOL 

The  State  Normal  School  at  Kirksville,  Missouri, 
has  built  and  equipped  a  model  rural  school  for  use  in 
practical  demonstration  work.  President  John  R. 
Kirk  gives  a  detailed  description  of  this  building  in 
Successful  Farming  (April,  1911)  as  follows :  — 

"This  schoolhouse  has  three  principal  floors.  The 
basement  and  main  floor  are  the  same  size,  28  X  36 
feet,  outside  measurement.  The  basement  measures 
8  feet  from  floor^to  ceiling.  Its  floor  is  of  concrete, 
underlaid  with  porous  tile  and  cinders.  The  base- 
ment walls  are  of  rock  and  concrete,  protected  by 
drain  tile  on  outside.  The  basement  has  eight  com- 
partments. 

"1.  Furnace  room,  containing  furnace  inclosed  by 
galvanized  iron,  also  double  cold  air  duct  with  elec- 
tric fan,  also  gas  water  heater. 


Plate  XII. 


A  Model  School  Building  113 

"2.  Coal  bin,  6  X  8  feet. 

"3.  Bulb  or  plant  room,  3X8  feet,  for  fall,  winter, 
and  spring  storage: 

"  4 .  Dark  room,  4X8  feet,  for  children's  experiments 
in  photography. 

"  5.  Laundry  room,  5X21  feet,  with  tubs,  drain,  and 
drying  apparatus. 

"  6.  Gymnasium  or  play  room,  13  X  23  feet. 

"  7.  Tank  room  containing  a  400-gallon  pneumatic 
pressure  tank,  storage  battery  for  electricity,  hand 
pump  for  emergencies,  water  gauge,  sewer  pipes, 
floor  drain,  etc. 

"  8.  Engine  room,  containing  gasoline  engine,  water 
pump,  electrical  generator,  switchboard,  water  tank 
for  cooling  gasoline  engine,  weight  for  gas  pressure, 
gas  mixer,  batteries,  pipes,  wires,  etc. 

"The  pumps  lift  water  from  a  well  into  pressure 
tank  through  pipes  below  the  frost  line.  Gasoline  is 
admitted  through  pipes  below  the  frost  line  from  two 
50-gallon  tanks  underground,  30  feet  from  building. 
All  rooms  are  wired  for  electricity  and  plumbed  for 
gas.     The  basement  is  thoroughly  ventilated. 

"  The  main  floor  contains  a  school  room  22  X  27  feet 
in  the  clear,  lighted  wholly  from  the  north  side.  A 
ground  glass  in  the  rear  admits  sunlight  for  sanita- 
tion. Schoolroom  has  adjustable  seats  and  desks, 
telephone,  and  teachers'  desk.  Stereopticon  is  hung 
in  wall  at  rear.  Alcove  or  closet  on  east  side  for 
books,    teachers'    wraps,    etc.     Schoolroom    has    a 


114     The  Transformation  of  the  Rural  School 

small  organ,  ample  book  cases,  shelves,  and  appara- 
tus. Pure  air  enters  from  above  children's  heads 
and  passes  out  at  floor  into  ventilating  stack  through 
fireplace. 

"  Main  floor  has  two  toilet  rooms,  each  of  these 
having  lavatories,  wash  bowl  with  hot  and  cold  water, 
pressure  tank  for  hot  water  and  for  heat,  shower 
bath  with  hot  and  cold  water,  ventilating  appara- 
tus, looking  glass,  towel  rack,  soap  box,  etc.  Each 
toilet  room  is  reached  by  a  circuitous  passageway 
furnishing  room  for  children's  wraps,  overshoes, 
etc.  The  scheme  secures  absolute  privacy  in  toilet 
rooms.  All  toilet  room  walls  contain  air  chambers 
to  deaden  sound.  The  toilet  rooms  are  clean,  decent, 
and  beautiful.  They  are  never  disfigured  with  vile 
language  or  other  defacement. 

"All  rural  schoolhouses  with  the  comb  of  the 
roof  running  one  way  have  attics,  but  the  attic  of  this 
rural  school  is  the  first  one  and  the  only  one  that  has 
been  well  utilized.  This  attic  is  15  X  35  feet,  inside 
measurement,  all  in  one  room ;  distance  from  floor 
to  ceiling  7|  feet  in  the  middle  part.  It  is  abun- 
dantly lighted  through  gable  lights  and  roof  lights. 
It  contains  modern  manual-training  benches  for  use 
of  eight  or  ten  children  at  one  time,  a  gas  range  and 
other  apparatus  for  experimental  cooking.  It  is 
furnished  with  both  gas  and  electric  light.  It  has  a 
wash  bowl  with  hot  and  cold  water,  looking  glass, 
towels,  etc.     It  has  a  large  typical  kitchen  sink  and  a 


Plate  XIII. 


The  Cornell  Schoolhouse  115 

drinking  fountain,  but  no  drinking  cup,  either  common 
or  uncommon.  It  has  cupboards,  boxes,  and  recep- 
tacles for  various  experiments  in  home  economics. 
It  has  a  disinfecting  apparatus,  a  portable  agricul- 
tural-chemistry laboratory  and  numerous  other  equip- 
ments. 

"  A  rural  school  can  be  built  here  from  beginning  to 
completion  with  all  the  above-mentioned  equipments 
of  every  kind,  including  furniture,  for  $2250.  The 
heating  and  ventilating  apparatus,  the  pressure 
tanks,  gasoline  engine,  water  pumps,  dynamo,  fur- 
nace, etc.,  can  all  be  easily  adapted  to  a  two-room 
model,  a  three-room  school,  or  a  six-room  school  by 
having  each  fixture  slightly  larger. 

"This  model  therefore  solves  the  schoolbuilding 
question  for  villages,  towns,  and  consolidated  rural 
schools." 

The  Cornell  schoolhouse 

An  attractive  rural  schoolhouse  was  erected  some 
years  ago  at  the  New  York  State  College  of  Agricul- 
ture, to  serve  as  a  suggestion  architecturally  and 
otherwise  to  rural  districts.  It  is  a  one-teacher  build- 
ing, and  yet  allows  for  the  introduction  of  the  new 
methods  of  teaching.  It  is  a  wooden  building,  with 
cement  stucco  interior,  heated  with  hot-air  furnace, 
and  with  two  water  toilets  attached.  The  total  cost 
was  about  $2000.  The  College  writes  as  follows  of 
the  house:  — 


116     The  Transformation  of  the  Rural  School 

"  The  prevailing  rural  schoolhouse  is  a  building  in 
which  pupils  sit  to  study  books.  It  ought  to  be  a 
room  in  which  pupils  do  personal  work  with  both 
hands  and  mind.  The  essential  feature  of  this  new 
schoolhouse,  therefore,  is  a  workroom.  This  room 
occupies  one-third  of  the  floor  space.  Perhaps  it 
would  be  better  if  it  occupied  two-thirds  of  the  floor 
space.  If  the  building  is  large  enough,  however,  the 
two  kinds  of  work  could  change  places  in  this  school- 
house. 

"The  building  is  designed  for  twenty-five  pupils 
in  the  main  room.  The  folding  doors  and  windows 
in  the  partition  enable  one  teacher  to  manage  both 
rooms. 

"  It  has  been  the  purpose  to  make  the  main  part 
of  the  building  about  the  size  of  the  average  rural 
schoolhouse,  and  then  to  add  the  workroom  as  a 
wing  or  projection.  Such  a  room  could  be  added  to 
existing  school  buildings ;  or,  in  districts  in  which 
the  building  is  now  too  large,  one  part  of  the  room 
could  be  partitioned  off  as  a  workroom. 

"It  is  the  purpose,  also,  to  make  this  building 
artistic,  attractive,  and  homelike  to  children,  sani- 
tary, comfortable,  and  durable.  The  cement-plaster 
exterior  is  handsomer  and  warmer  than  wood,  and 
on  expanded  metal  lath  it  is  durable.  The  interior 
of  this  building  is  very  attractive.  Nearly  any  rural 
schoolhouse  can  secure  a  water-supply  and  instal 
toilets  as  part  of  the  school  building. 


Better  Facilities  for  Play  117 

"  The  openings  between  schoolroom  and  workroom 
are  fitted  with  glazed  swing  sash  and  folding  doors, 
so  that  the  rooms  may  be  used  either  singly  or 
together,  as  desired. 

"The  workroom  has  a  bay-window  facing  south 
and  filled  with  shelves  for  plants.  Slate  blackboards 
of  standard  school  heights  fill  the  spaces  about  the 
rooms  between  doors  and  windows.  The  building  is 
heated  by  hot  air ;  vent  flues  of  adequate  sizes  are 
also  provided  so  that  the  rooms  are  ventilated. 

"On  the  front  of  the  building,  and  adding  ma- 
terially to  its  picturesque  appearance,  is  a  roomy 
veranda  with  simple  square  posts,  from  which 
entrance  is  made  directly  into  the  combined  vesti- 
bule and  coatroom  and  from  this  again  by  two  doors 
into  the  schoolroom." 

Help  make  a  school  play  ground 

Throughout  the  entire  country  there  is  at  last  ris- 
ing a  wave  of  enthusiasm  in  behalf  of  affording  the 
child  a  better  means  of  play.  First  the  cities  took 
the  matter  up,  then  the  towns,  and  now  the  country 
districts  are  beginning  to  do  their  part.  The  farmer 
and  his  wife  should  feel  an  interest  in  such  a  matter, 
for  they  can  render  no  better  service  to  their  com- 
munity than  that  of  joining  the  district  teacher  in  an 
effort  to  equip  the  school  grounds  with  play  apparatus. 
As  a  suggestive  outline  of  what  materials  to  procure, 
the  dimensions  and  cost  of  the  same,  there  is  given 


118     The  Transformation  of  the  Rural  School 

below  the  equipment  worked  out  by  certain  officials 
in  Colorado  and  described  briefly  in  Superintendent 
Fairchild's  report,  as  follows  :  — 

A  turning  pole  for  boys  may  be  made  by  setting 
two  posts  in  the  ground,  six  or  eight  feet  apart,  and 
running  a  1  or  lj  inch  gas  pipe  through  holes  bored 
in  the  tops  of  the  posts.  The  cost  of  such  a  piece  of 
apparatus  should  be  as  follows,  assuming  that  the 
necessary  work  will  be  done  by  the  teachers  and  boys  : 
Two  posts,  4"  X  4",  8  ft.  long,  50  cents ;  one  piece 
gas  pipe,  8  ft.  long,  15  cents. 

Teeter  boards  may  be  made  by  planting  posts  ten 
or  twelve  feet  apart,  and  placing  a  pole  or  a  rounded 
6  X  6  on  top  of  them,  and  then  placing  boards,  upon 
which  the  children  may  teeter.  Individual  teeter 
boards  may  be  made  by  placing  a  2  X  8  board  in  the 
ground,  and  fastening  the  teeter  board  to  it  by  means 
of  iron  braces  placed  on  each  side  of  the  upright  piece. 
The  cost  of  the  above  apparatus  would  be,  for  several 
teeters :  Two  upright  posts,  6"  X  6",  5  ft.  long,  93 
cents;  one  piece,  6"  X  6",  12  ft.  long,  $1.22;  four 
teeter  boards,  2"  X  8",  14  ft.  long,  $2.50.  For  indi- 
vidual teeter :  One  piece  2"  X  8",  16  ft.  long,  56 
cents  —  to  make  upright  piece  4  ft.  long  and  teeter 
board  12  ft.  long;  two  iron  braces  and  four  large 
screws,  25  cents. 

A  very  attractive  and  desirable  piece  of  apparatus 
may  be  made  as  follows :  Secure  a  pole  about  ten  or 
fifteen  feet  long.   To  the  small  end  attach  by  the  use  of 


Play  Apparatus  for  Schools  119 

bolts  one  end  of  a  wagon  axle,  spindle  up.  Upon  the 
spindle  place  a  wagon  wheel,  and  to  the  wheel  attach 
ropes,  about  as  long  as  the  pole.  Place  the  big  end 
of  the  pole  in  the  ground  three  or  four  feet,  and  brace 
it  from  the  four  points  of  the  compass.  The  ropes 
will  hang  down  from  the  wheel  in  such  a  way  that  the 
children  may  take  hold  of  them,  swing,  jump,  and 
run  around  the  pole.  The  one  described  was  rather 
inexpensive.  A  telephone  company  donated  a  dis- 
carded pole,  a  farmer  a  discarded  wagon  wheel  and 
axle.  The  only  expense  was  that  of  paying  a  black- 
smith for  attaching  the  wheel  to  the  pole  and  the 
cost  of  the  ropes  —  about  $2.  It  furnished  one  of 
the  most  attractive  pieces  of  apparatus  on  the  play- 
ground. 

An  inexpensive  swing  may  be  constructed  by  plac- 
ing four  4  X  4's  in  the  ground  in  a  slanting  position, 
two  being  opposite  each  other  and  meeting  at  the  top 
in  such  a  way  as  to  form  a  fork.  The  pairs  may  be 
ten  or  twelve  feet  apart,  and  a  pole  or  heavy  gal- 
vanized pipe,  to  which  swings  may  be  attached, 
wired,  nailed,  or  bolted  to  the  crotches  formed  by  the 
pieces  placed  in  the  ground.  The  cost  of  this  ap- 
paratus will  be :  Four  pieces,  4"  X  4",  14  ft.  long, 
$1.25 ;  one  piece  galvanized  pipe,  3",  12  ft.  long,  $2.50. 

Boards  of  education  could  well  afford  to  purchase 
one  or  more  basketballs,  and  a  few  baseballs  and  bats 
for  the  boys.  These  things  more  than  pay  for  them- 
selves in  the  added  interest  which  boys  and  girls  who 


120     The  Transformation  of  the  Rural  School 

have  them  take  in  the  school.  For  much  of  the 
apparatus  suggested  above  the  wide-awake  board  of 
education  and  teacher  will  see  opportunities  to  use 
material  less  expensive  than  that  suggested.  And 
to  such  persons  many  pieces  of  apparatus  not  speci- 
fied here  will  suggest  themselves  to  fit  particular  needs 
and  opportunities. 

General  instruction  in  agriculture 

A  great  fault  with  the  district  schools  has  been  an 
inclination  to  think  that  anything  close  at  hand  is 
too  mean  and  common  to  be  considered  as  subject 
matter  for  instruction.  The  thought  has  usually 
been  that  the  school  would  prepare  the  learner  for 
some  brilliant  calling  away  off  where  things  are 
better  and  life  is  easier  and  more  beautiful.  As  a 
result,  the  country  schools  have  been  educating  boys 
and  girls  away  from  the  farm.  The  new  method  is 
that  of  educating  them  to  appreciate  what  is  under 
their  feet  and  all  around  them,  through  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  processes  of  nature  and  industry 
as  carried  on  in  their  midst. 

One  of  the  more  direct  means  of  educating  the 
boys  and  girls  for  a  happy,  contented  life  on  the 
farm  is  to  teach  them  while  young  the  rudiments  of 
agriculture.  This  method  is  now  actually  being  put 
into  practice  in  thousands  of  the  rural  schools.  The 
state  of  Kansas  recently  enacted  a  law  requiring  all 
candidates  for  teachers'  certificates  to  pass  a  test  in 


Plate  XIV. 


Teaching  Elementary  Agriculture  121 

the  elements  of  agriculture  and  also  requiring  that 
the  rudiments  of  this  subject  be  taught  in  every  dis- 
trict school.  Other  states  have  similar  laws.  As  a 
result  of  this  and  like  provisions,  there  is  now  a  tre- 
mendous awakening  in  the  direction  named.  The 
boys  and  girls  in  the  country  schools  are  finding 
new  meaning  and  a  new  interest  in  the  fields  and 
farms  upon  which  they  are  growing  up. 

It  is  a  comparatively  simple  matter,  that  of 
teaching  the  young  how  the  plant  germinates  and 
grows,  how  the  seed  is  produced,  and  how  farm  crops 
are  cared  for  and  harvested.  Likewise,  it  is  easy  to 
describe  the  elements  of  the  various  types  of  soil  and 
to  show  how  these  elements  contribute  to  the  life 
and  growth  of  the  plant.  The  questions  of  moisture 
in  its  relation  to  plant  life,  of  insects  harmful  and 
helpful  to  growing  crops  and  animals,  of  the  bird  life 
as  related  in  its  economic  aspects  to  farming  —  all 
such  matters  can  be  easily  taught  to  children  by  the 
young-woman  school  teacher.  It  is  only  necessary 
for  the  latter  to  take  an  elementary  course  of  in- 
struction herself,  to  read  a  number  of  collateral  texts, 
and  to  get  into  the  spirit  of  the  undertaking.  In  a 
similar  manner,  instruction  in  regard  to  farm  animals 
may  be  given,  the  emphasis  being  placed  upon  the 
consideration  of  the  types  of  live  stock  actually  raised 
and  marketed  in  the  home  neighborhood. 

It  must  be  emphasized  that  these  matters  relating 
to   elementary   agriculture   and   animal   husbandry 


122     The  Transformation  of  the  Rural  School 

can  be  made  just  as  interesting  and  quite  as  cultural 
as  any  of  the  subjects  in  the  general  curriculum  of  the 
schools.  Wherefore,  the  rural  dweller  who  catches 
the  spirit  of  such  instruction  should  lead  out  in  the 
securing  of  public  measures  and  public  improve- 
ments looking  toward  an  early  embodiment  of  these 
new  subjects  within  the  prescribed  course  of  study. 

Domestic  economy  and  home  sanitation 

The  time  is  now  at  hand  when  the  district  school 
failing  to  give  any  attention  to  practical  household 
affairs  is  to  be  classed  as  out  of  date  and  unprogressive. 
Well-written  texts  and  pamphlets  covering  the  home- 
keeping  subjects  are  now  both  available  and  cheap, 
so  that  the  excuse  for  deferring  their  use  is  approach- 
ing the  zero  point. 

Of  course  it  is  impracticable  as  yet  to  have  ap- 
paratus for  cooking  and  sewing  installed  in  the  one- 
teacher  district  school,  but  the  bare  rudiments  of 
these  subjects  may  nevertheless  be  taught  with  the 
expectation  that  home  practice  may  be  thereby 
improved  and  better  understood.  Perhaps  the 
most  practical  method  of  present  procedure  is  that 
of  organizing  an  independent  class  of  the  girls  of 
suitable  age  and  meeting  them  informally.  The 
texts  and  pamphlets  furnished  by  the  college  ex- 
tension departments  may  be  followed.  In  case  of 
graded  and  high  school  courses  this  work  should  by  all 
means  be  carried  on  as  a  regular  class  exercise. 


Many  Schools  too  Small  123 

Home  sanitation  may  easily  and  profitably  be 
taught  in  the  district  school,  even  though  only  one 
or  two  periods  per  week  be  set  apart  for  the  purpose. 
Perhaps  the  best  method  of  instruction  is  that  of 
presenting  carefully  one  specific  lesson  at  a  time. 
For  example,  pure  drinking  water,  clean  milk,  food 
contamination  by  house  flies  may  be  treated  each 
in  its  turn.  Adequate  charts  and  illustrations  should 
be  brought  into  service. 

Consolidation  of  rural  schools 

There  is  much  agitation  nowadays  in  regard  to 
consolidating  the  rural  schools.  Although  present 
progress  is  slow,  it  seems  comparatively  certain  that 
the  one-teacher  rural  school  is  destined  in  time  to  be- 
come a  thing  of  the  past.  However,  there  is  no  par- 
ticular haste  in  the  matter,  provided  some  such  plans 
as  the  foregoing  be  put  into  effect  in  case  of  the 
single  school.  Perhaps  the  sparsely  settled  district 
has  the  greatest  justification  for  looking  toward  con- 
solidation. It  happens  that  there  are  thousands  of 
small  schools  having  an  attendance  of  from  five  to 
ten  pupils.  In  such  an  instance,  it  is  practically  im- 
possible to  do  the  best  work,  the  children  lacking  the 
spur  of  rivalry  and  enthusiasm  and  the  helpful  les- 
sons in  social  ethics  offered  only  by  the  larger  massing 
of  the  young  at  play. 

In  many  places,  three  or  four  rural  districts  are 
uniting  in  this  movement,  the  general  plan  being 


124     The  Transformation  of  the  Rural  School 

that  of  constructing  a  central  building  with  ample 
working  space  for  all,  and  then  transporting  the 
children  to  and  from  the  school.  The  scheme  is 
working  well  as  a  rule.  Among  the  great  advantages 
is  that  of  a  possible  grading  of  the  school  so  that 
the  teacher  may  have  time  for  each  subject  and  more 
opportunity  for  specialization.  Perhaps  the  most 
serious  and  difficult  part  of  the  plan  is  that  of  pro- 
viding a  safe  and  suitable  means  of  conveyance  to  and 
from  the  school.  Some  excellent  patterns  of  school 
wagons  are  already  on  the  market,  while  manu- 
facturers are  constantly  at  work  improving  them.  So 
we  may  expect  better  results  as  time  goes  on.  It 
has  already  been  shown  very  satisfactorily  that  the 
conveyance,  when  in  charge  of  a  well-trained  driver, 
furnishes  improved  moral  and  physical  safeguards  for 
the  child. 

More  high  schools  needed 

Not  only  every  county,  but  also  every  rural 
township,  should  have  its  well-equipped  high  school. 
It  is  a  serious  matter  to  send  boys  and  girls  in  their 
middle  teens  away  to  college.  Many  lives  are  thus 
more  or  less  ruined  simply  from  too  early  loss  of 
the  personal  restraints  and  influence  of  the  parents. 
But  with  a  first-class  high  school  in  easy  reach 
the  young  people  may  at  least  return  home  for  the 
Saturday-Sunday  recess  and  thereby  continue  in  the 
close    councils    of    their    parents.     And    then,    the 


Plate  XV. 


s.  17-21.  This  magnificent  consolidated  school  in  Winnebago 
County,  Illinois,  was  inspired  by  the  excellent  work  of  the  well- 
known  Superintendent  O.  J.  Kern.  The  four  little  one-room 
buildings  illustrated  above  gave  way  to  it. 


New  Type  of  Rural  Teacher  125 

rightly-managed  high  school  will  bring  the  student 
into  closer  touch  with  the  local  rural  problems  that 
may  not  be  possible  in  case  of  the  distant  institution. 
In  the  location  of  high  schools  intended  to  serve  the 
rural  interests  there  should  be  an  effort  to  keep  away 
from  the  towns  and  cities.  In  the  latter  places  the 
allurements  of  the  cheap  theater  and  the  snobbery 
that  often  invades  the  city  high  school  are  illustra- 
tions of  the  evils  that  serve  to  entice  the  young  away 
from  the  substantial  things  of  life.  A  good  county 
or  township  high  school  located  centrally  and  in 
the  open  country  is  ideal.  At  such  a  location  it  is 
vastly  easier  than  in  the  city  to  center  the  attention 
of  the  students  upon  the  rural  problems,  not  to 
mention  the  greater  availability  of  demonstrations 
on  farm  and  garden  plots. 

Better  rural  teachers  needed 

The  ideal  preparation  for  a  teacher  in  the  rural 
school  is  a  complete  course  in  a  first-class  agricultural 
college,  with  the  inclusion  of  a  few  terms'  work  in 
the  educational  subjects.  So  long  as  we  send  into 
the  district  schools  young  teachers  who  have  been 
taught  merely  in  the  common  text-book  branches, 
and  whose  training  has  been  exclusively  pedagogical, 
the  practice  of  educating  the  boys  and  girls  away  from 
the  farm  will  go  on.  The  country  school  is,  in  its  best 
sense,  an  industrial  school ;  and  only  those  teachers 
can  do  best  work  therein  who  have  had  the  personal 


126     The  Transformation  of  the  Rural  School 

experience  in  industrial  training  and  the  changed 
point  of  view  which  only  the  agricultural  college 
can  give.  So  if  the  board  of  trustees  in  any  rural 
district  really  wishes  to  unite  in  supporting  an  effec- 
tive back-to-the-farm  movement,  let  them  offer  to 
some  country-reared  graduate  of  the  agricultural 
college  a  salary  of  about  twice  or  three  times  the 
amount  usually  paid.  After  a  few  terms  of  school 
taught  by  such  a  person,  the  good  effects  on  the 
rural  uplift  will  most  certainly  reveal  themselves. 
But  so  long  as  school  trustees  continue  to  try  to 
drive  a  sharp  bargain  in  the  employment  of  teachers 
—  securing  the  one  with  the  passable  county  cer- 
tificate who  will  teach  for  the  least  wages  —  the 
boys  will  continue  to  run  off  to  town  for  "jobs" 
and  the  parents  will  continue  to  "move  to  town  to 
educate  their  children." 

There  is  some  hope  of  a  new  ideal  in  relation  to 
the  country  school  teacher;  namely,  that  he  shall 
be  a  man  in  every  sense,  worthy  of  a  salary  large 
enough  to  support  himself  and  his  family  the  year 
round  as  residents  of  the  community.  Then  we 
shall  have  a  profession  of  teaching  in  the  rural 
school  work. 

REFERENCES 

Annual  Report  Page  County  (Iowa)  Schools.     Miss  Jessie  Field,  Superin- 
tendent (Clarinda). 
The  reader  who  is  especially  interested  in  this  chapter  is  urged  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  the  splendid  work  accomplished  for  the  district 


Pi, ate  XVI. 


_    S 


5  £  «- 


5  5 


"5     s 


Literature  on  the  Rural  School  127 

schools  of  Page  County,  la.,  by  Superintendent  Jessie  Field.  As  indi- 
cated by  her  published  annuals,  and  otherwise,  she  has  led  all  the  other 

young  women  superintendents  in  the  work  of  organizing  the  boys  and 

girls  into  clubs  and  classes  for  the  study  of  school  gardening,  bread 

making,  grain  propagation,  and  the  like. 

Report  of  the  Committee  on  Industrial  Education  in  Schools  for  Rural 
Communities,  of  the  National  Educational  Association. 

Among  Country  Schools.  O.  J.  Kern.  Ginn  &  Co.  A  clear,  help- 
ful, and  inspiring  text. 

The  American  Rural  School.  H.  W.  Foght.  Macmillan.  Covers  the 
entire  subject  carefully. 

The  School  and  Society.  John  Dewey.  McClure,  Phillips  &  Co.,  New 
York. 

The  School  and  its  Life.  Charles  B.  Gilbert.  Chapter  XXII,  "Home 
and  School."     McCIurg. 

Efficient  Democracy.  Wm.  H.  Allen.  Chapter  VII, "  School  Efficiency." 
Dodd,  Mead  &  Co.    A  most  helpful  and  stimulating  volume. 

The  School  as  a  Social  Institution.  Henry  Suzzallo.  Monograph. 
Houghton  Mifflin  Company. 

Wider  Use  of  the  School  Plant.  Clarence  Arthur  Perry.  Chapter  VI, 
"School  Playgrounds."  Charities  Publication  Committee,  New 
York. 

Education  in  the  Country  for  the  Country.  J.  W.  Zeller.  Annual  Vol- 
ume N.E.A.,  1910,  p.  245. 

Teachers  for  the  Rural  Schools ;  Kind  Wanted ;  How  to  secure  Them. 
L.  J.  Alleman.    Annual  Volume  N.E.A.,  1910,  p.  280. 

The  State  Board  of  Health  of  Maine  (Augusta)  issues  a  series  of  prac- 
tical pamphlets  on  health  and  sanitation  in  the  school  and  the  home. 

The  Most  Practical  Industrial  Education  for  the  Country  Child. 
Superintendent  O.  J.  Kern.    Annual  Volume  N.E.A.,  1906,  p.  198. 

Among  School  Gardens.  M.  Louise  Green,  Ph.D.  Charities  Publication 
Committee,  New  York. 

A  Model  Rural  School  House.  Henry  S.  Curtis.  Educational  Founda- 
tions, April,  1911.  A.  S.  Barnes  &  Co.  Dr.  Curtis  is  a  national 
authority  on  the  question  of  the  school  playground. 

Education  for  Efficiency.  E.  Davenport.  D.  C.  Heath.  A  most  able 
plea  for  making  the  schools  serve  every  worthy  interest. 


128     The  Transformation  of  the  Rural  School 

Changing  Conceptions  of  Education.  E.  P.  Cubberly.  Monograph. 
Houghton  Mifflin  Company. 

Methods  of  conducting  Book  and  Demonstration  Work  in  teaching 
Elementary  Agriculture.  O.  H.  Benson.  Bureau  of  Plant  Indus- 
try, Washington,  D.C.    An  excellent  guide. 

Report  of  Committee  to  investigate  Rural  School  Conditions.  Superin- 
tendent E  T.  Fairchild  and  others.  Address  the  Secretary  N.E.A., 
Winona,  Minn. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  COUNTY   YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN 
ASSOCIATION 

Among  the  movements  of  first  importance  looking 
toward  the  uplift  of  young  men  is  that  named  at  the 
head  of  this  chapter.  Parallel  with  the  intensive 
and  systematic  effort  to  build  up  the  commercial 
life  of  the  city  and  allow  the  country  district  to 
take  care  of  itself,  has  been  a  like  effort  to  provide  for 
the  care  and  development  of  the  city  boy  and  the 
uniform  neglect  of  the  needs  and  interests  of  the 
country  boy.  Now,  here  at  last  is  a  movement 
that  is  proving  a  real  means  of  salvation  of  the  rural 
youth,  mind,  body,  and  soul. 

President  Henry  J.  Waters,  of  the  Kansas  State 
Agricultural  College,  struck  the  keynote  of  this 
young  country-life  movement  most  effectively  in  a 
recent  address  when  he  said :  "  We  believe  in  the 
existence  of  a  social  renaissance.  One  needs  only 
to  read  the  daily  and  weekly  papers  printed  in 
hundreds  of  prosperous  villages  and  cross  roads 
corners,  the  faithful  chroniclers  of  the  community's 
activities,  to  find  buoyant  hope  of  the  future  of 
farm  life. 

k  129 


130     County  Young  Men ■§  Christian  Association 

"The  dignity  of  labor;  the  close  connection 
between  heads  and  hands;  the  monthly  or  weekly 
meetings  of  farmers'  institutes  in  hundreds  of 
counties;  the  special  lectures  provided  by  agricul- 
tural colleges;  the  movable  schools;  the  farmers' 
winter  short  courses,  in  which  thousands  of  men  and 
women  and  boys  and  girls  participate ;  corn  contests ; 
bread  contests ;  sewing  contests ;  play  carnivals ; 
poultry-raising  contests ;  stock-raising  contests ;  con- 
ferences on  the  country  church,  country  school,  good 
roads  —  all  these  activities  denote  the  growth  of  a 
new  and  mighty  spirit  in  the  country  life  of  America. 

"We  need  further  demonstrations,  together  with 
concrete  thinking,  a  lot  of  constructive  programs, 
and  a  deal  of  hard  work  and  self-sacrifice,  in  which 
the  county  work  department  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  can  have  no  little  share,  to 
speed  on  the  great  epoch  of  rural  social  renaissance." 

Boys  leave  the  farm  too  young 

It  is  a  tragic  story  when  the  whole  truth  is  known, 
that  of  the  young  boy  running  off  to  town  in  search  of 
some  employment  that  will  bring  him  a  little  ready 
cash  for  spending  money,  and  also  in  search  of  the 
sociability  so  woefully  lacking  in  the  rural  home 
environment.  Too  long  have  the  country  parents 
attempted  to  argue  and  scold  and  force  their  boys 
to  remain  at  home  where  they  are  confronted  only 
with  the  monotony  of  hard  work  and  a  very  dim 


Keeping  the  Boys  on  the  Farm  131 

prospect  of  a  possible  land  or  other  property  inherit- 
ance. So  at  last  there  is  being  raised  the  very  im- 
portant questions,  What  is  the  matter  with  the 
country  boy  ?  and  What  can  be  done  to  help  him  ? 
Knowledge  of  the  fact  that  more  than  one-half  of 
the  boys  of  the  United  States  are  living  in  farm 
homes  makes  the  problem  of  their  individual  sal- 
vation assume  momentous  proportions. 

There  can  be  no  reasonable  thought  of  holding 
all  the  boys  on  the  farm.  Many  of  them  are  best 
fitted  by  nature  to  go  elsewhere  and  find  suitable 
employment,  but  there  is  every  good  reason  for 
preventing  the  great  exodus  of  immature  youths 
who  run  of?  to  the  cities,  not  knowing  what  they  are 
to  face  and  without  any  well-defined  purpose.  Yes, 
the  great  concerns  of  the  towns  and  cities  must  con- 
tinue to  call  many  of  the  brainiest  young  men  from 
the  rural  districts.  In  fact,  the  country  may  with 
every  good  reason  be  considered  the  proper  breeding 
ground  for  the  virile  minds  destined  to  control  the 
great  affairs  of  nation,  state,  and  municipality. 
But  every  reasonable  effort  must  be  put  forth  to 
keep  the  boy  in  his  country  home  until  his  character 
is  relatively  matured  and  his  plans  for  a  future 
career  are  fairly  well  defined. 

Purposes  of  the  County  Y.M.C.A. 

Doubtless  the  first  chief  purpose  of  the  county 
association  is  that  of  building  up  the  boy's  character 


132     County  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 

and  finally  perfecting  his  spiritual  nature.  But  this 
high  aim  is  not  sought  in  the  old-fashioned,  direct 
manner.  Instead,  there  is  a  studied  effort  to  build 
up  the  boy  gradually  through  the  enlistment  of 
his  natural  interests  in  matters  that  lie  dormant  in 
his  home  environment.  The  truly  scientific  method 
in  this  field  is  first  concerned  with  providing  means 
whereby  the  boy  may  work  out  his  own  spiritual 
salvation.  Along  with  the  farm  labors,  tedious  and 
irksome  to  him  when  undertaken  as  exclusive  re- 
quirements, the  country  boy  is  given  an  opportunity 
to  take  part  in  certain  athletic  and  social  exercises 
which  appeal  to  his  instincts  and  arouse  the  sponta- 
neity from  the  depths  of  his  own  nature. 

In  carrying  on  the  country  work,  an  attempt  is 
made  to  approach  the  boy  from  the  peculiar  situations 
of  his  home  environment.  What  specific  readjust- 
ments are  needed  in  his  home  life  in  respect  to  the 
amount  of  work  required  of  him  ?  What  of  the  rec- 
reation he  enjoys  ?  The  local  society  in  which  he 
moves  ?  The  home  church  and  Sunday  school  ? 
The  temptations  that  may  lie  near  about  him  ?  and  so 
on.  These  and  many  other  such  inquiries  are  made 
with  a  view  to  dealing  with  the  boy  in  an  individual 
way  and  reestablishing  his  life  for  the  better. 

HOW   TO   ORGANIZE   A   COUNTY   ASSOCIATION 

Unless  it  may  chance  that,  after  a  brief  survey  of 
the  field,  some  person  from   the  outside  comes  in 


Plate  XVII. 


A  Good  Leader  Necessary  133 

to  perfect  the  organization  of  the  county  association, 
any  interested  person  within  the  limits  of  the  county 
must  make  the  start.  Devotion  to  the  cause, 
persistence,  and  unfailing  enthusiasm  are  perhaps 
the  best  personal  equipment  for  the  local  beginner 
of  this  new  work.  His  first  concern  should  be  that 
of  gathering  a  committee  of  men  like  himself  from 
different  parts  of  the  county.  Doubtless  these  will 
form  themselves  into  a  sort  of  brotherhood  commit- 
tee. After  such  temporary  organization,  the  next 
important  step  is  that  of  securing  an  able  county 
leader. 

1.  Choose  a  good  leader.  —  Now,  the  success  of 
the  movement  is  to  depend  very  largely  upon  the 
character  of  the  leader  to  be  chosen.  If  the  right 
man  be  selected,  no  matter  how  hard  the  con- 
ditions, he  will  be  able  finally  to  bring  system  and 
order  and  spiritual  progress  out  of  it  all.  The 
important  characteristics  of  the  ideal  leader  of 
country  boys  are  comparatively  few.  First  of  all, 
he  must,  of  course,  be  moved  by  a  sense  of  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  Christianity  —  the  up-building 
of  the  characters,  especially  the  spiritual  natures, 
of  young  men.  He  should  be  a  man  who  has  been 
trained  in  a  good  college,  if  possible  a  graduate,  with 
experience  in  the  Y.M.C.A.  and  other  like  or- 
ganizations. He  should  have  had  some  special 
training  in  such  subjects  as  psychology,  sociology, 
and  economics,  and  should  be  fairly  well  versed  in 


134    County  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 

the  literature  of  these  subjects.  He  should  be  espe- 
cially fond  of  boys  and  boy  life  and  interested  in 
the  conduct  of  people  of  every  kind  and  sort.  He 
should  be  somewhat  trained  in  athletics  and  an  en- 
thusiastic supporter  of  clean  sports.  He  should 
have  what  is  known  as  good  business  sense.  It 
may  not  be  essential,  but  it  will  certainly  prove 
advantageous,  if  the  chosen  leader  has  himself 
been  reared  in  the  country. 

2.  Local  leaders  necessary.  —  After  the  leader  has 
been  selected,  the  next  step  is  that  of  the  appoint- 
ment of  carefully  chosen  leaders  for  the  local  neighbor- 
hoods. These  may  be  men  of  almost  any  age  from 
middle  life  down,  but  perhaps  the  ideal  age  would  be 
that  of  a  few  years  older  than  any  of  the  boys  of 
the  neighborhood.  All  must  be  enlisted  if  possible, 
not  one  being  slighted  or  offended. 

3.  A  committee  on  finance.  —  An  able  finance 
committee  is  also  of  high  importance.  This  should 
consist  of  men  chosen  especially  for  their  unusual 
ability  as  solicitors  and  persuaders  of  men  in  a 
financial  way.  Let  these  workers  go  over  the  county 
soliciting  funds  for  the  organization,  providing 
from  the  first  especially  that  the  secretary  shall  be 
well  paid  for  his  services.  Close-fisted  residents,  as 
well  as  all  others,  in  every  nook  and  corner  of  the 
territory  must  be  seen  and  asked  to  contribute.  It 
should  be  a  comparatively  easy  matter  to  show  men 
who  cannot  appreciate  the  social  and  spiritual  needs 


Little  Property  to  be  Owned  135 

of  the  boys  that  the  new  movement  will  most  cer- 
tainly increase  general  property  values  and  bring 
up  the  price  of  land. 

4.  Little  property  ownership.  —  While  new,  the 
county  organization  should  guard  against  attempting 
to  own  and  control  any  considerable  amount  of 
property  or  equipment.  Not  the  material  goods 
possessed,  but  the  strength  and  force  of  the  spiritual 
enthusiasm  will  have  greatest  value  in  carrying  on 
the  work.  It  will  be  found  quite  satisfactory  in 
nearly  every  case  to  have  the  boys  meet  in  some 
farm  home,  village  club  room,  or  country  school- 
house.  And  then,  there  is  always  danger  of  develop- 
ing a  Y.M.C.A.  too  exclusively  as  a  business  organi- 
zation. There  are  many  instances  in  the  towns 
and  cities  where  this  is  deplorably  true.  The  best 
spirit  of  the  work  is  submerged  by  the  continuous 
hounding  of  the  people  in  the  skirmish  for  funds  to 
keep  going  the  over-heavy  business  machinery  of 
the  institution.  There  often  develops,  in  such 
cases,  a  large  body  of  men  who  regard  the  Y.M.C.A. 
as  an  organization  of  loafers  and  easy-going  money 
spenders.  Once  such  sentiment  develops,  it  is  des- 
perately difficult  to  eradicate  it.  So  the  country 
Y.M.C.A.  should  preserve  the  semblance  of  humility, 
and  that  partly  by  getting  along  with  almost  no  prop- 
erty or  equipment  other  than  what  its  own  members 
may  provide  in  a  crude  fashion  and  what  may  be 
necessary  to  furnish  the  office  of  the  general  secretary. 


136    County  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 

HOW   TO   CONDUCT   THE   WORK 

One  of  the  first  steps  in  conducting  the  new  work 
is  that  of  making  a  survey  of  the  entire  county. 
The  names,  ages,  and  location  of  all  the  boys  must 
be  secured,  together  with  some  items  respecting 
their  present  social  and  religious  affiliations.  In 
fact,  the  more  personal  items  included  in  the  first 
survey,  the  better.  Some  boys  will  at  first  look 
with  disfavor  upon  the  new  movement,  believing 
that  it  is  merely  another  scheme  to  convert  them 
to  religion  and  get  them  into  a  church.  Care  must 
be  taken  to  disabuse  the  boy's  mind  of  this  thought 
from  the  very  beginning.  Therefore,  it  may  be  well 
not  to  try  to  hustle  him  into  a  Bible-study  class  the 
first  time  he  is  invited  out.  While  the  main  issue, 
namely,  that  of  spiritual  development  of  the  boy, 
is  not  to  be  forgotten,  he  must  nevertheless  be  led 
to  this  goal  through  the  path  of  many  very  common 
instrumentalities.  A  Y.M.C.A.  athletic  meet  would 
most  probably  prove  a  better  opening  number  than 
a  Bible-study  class  or  merely  a  religious  service.  As 
the  work  proceeds,  the  occasions  for  a  great  variety 
of  exercises  and  programs  will  present  themselves. 
Among  these  perhaps  there  would  be  the  follow- 
ing:— 

1.  Local  and  county  athletic  clubs.  —  The  athletic 
event  is  one  of  the  easiest  to  put  on  in  a  newly 
organized  boys'  club.     An  able  leader,  perhaps  the 


Subjects  for  Debating  Clubs  137 

county  secretary,  should  be  present  to  preside  over 
the  event,  inducing  the  boys  to  form  a  baseball 
club,  or  a  basketball  team ;  or  at  least  to  arrange 
for  some  event  in  which  they  can  all  participate, 
although  that  may  be  as  simple  a  thing  as  swim- 
ming or  jumping.  Introduce  at  once  the  thought  of 
practice  and  the  development  of  skill,  holding  out 
the  plan  of  a  county  organization  and  a  county 
field  meet  in  the  future,  which  all  may  attend  and 
in  which  the  ablest  shall  have  promise  of  a  con- 
spicuous part. 

2.  Debating  and  literary  clubs.  —  There  is  always 
the  possibility  of  a  literary  society,  provided  the  thing 
be  carefully  instituted.  The  secret  of  successful 
debates  among  persons  of  any  class  is  to  find  a 
"burning"  question.  So,  avoid  such  matters  as 
Tariff  Reform  and  the  World  Peace  Movement 
and  come  right  down  home  to  some  perplexing 
problem  in  the  lives  of  the  boys  of  the  club.  Some- 
thing about  their  work,  their  lack  of  recreation, 
their  chances  against  those  of  city  boys,  and  so  on, 
will  arouse  interest  and  bring  out  rough  debating 
material.  Find  latent  talent  of  other  sorts  in  the 
club.  Some  boy  can  sing ;  perhaps  another  can  play 
a  musical  instrument ;  still  another  one  may  be  a 
natural-born  storyteller ;  a  fourth  may  be  an  expert 
acrobat  and  tree  climber ;  a  fifth  a  shrewd  hunter  or 
trapper  of  wild  animals.  In  this  way,  nearly  every 
boy  can  be  led  to  take  part  in  a  general  program. 


138     County  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 

Thus,  while  contributing  something  toward  the 
entertainment  of  all,  each  boy's  active  participation 
will  go  far  by  way  of  awakening  his  personal  interest 
in  the  new  life. 

3.  Receptions  and  suppers.  —  After  the  boys  get 
fairly  under  way  with  their  club,  they  may  need 
to  arrange  an  oyster  supper  or  some  such  affair 
at  which  they  will  discuss  their  many  mutual  prob- 
lems. On  some  such  occasions  they  may  desire 
to  invite  their  parents  to  come  and  enjoy  the  program, 
also  to  participate  in  the  discussion  of  their  affairs. 
This  form  of  close  association  will  be  found  especially 
enticing  to  the  boys,  giving  them  a  good,  clean 
place  to  go  for  social  enjoyment  and  something 
to  look  forward  to  in  their  thoughts  during  the  some- 
what prosaic  hours  of  the  day  in  the  field. 

4.  Educational  tours  and  problems.  —  The  boys 
may  find  it  feasible  to  go  in  a  body  once  or  twice  a 
year  on  an  educational  tour  —  to  the  state  fair ;  to 
study  some  particular  thing  in  the  city ;  to  gather 
data  for  the  solution  of  some  local  problem;  to 
make  a  study  of  the  habitat  of  some  bird  or  ani- 
mal ;  to  gather  specimens  of  rocks  or  plants ;  and 
so  on.  In  case  of  any  such  trip  there  is  not  a  little 
necessity  of  some  college-trained  person  as  overseer, 
so  that  the  study  may  be  made  intensive  and  not 
become  dissipated  in  mere  sport  and  fun.  It  is 
usually  advisable  to  make  a  careful  study  of  only 
one  thing  at  a  time. 


Plate  XVIII. 


O      SS 


Sanitation  at  the  Camp  139 

5.  Camping  and  hiking.  —  The  boys  of  the  county 
should  be  brought  together  at  least  once  a  year  in  a 
summer  camp.  Farmers  will  soon  learn  to  appreciate 
the  value  of  such  things  in  the  life  of  the  boy  and  will 
gladly  allow  him  a  few  days'  vacation  for  the  purpose. 
The  boy  who  enjoys  such  a  privilege  will  more  than 
pay  it  back  through  the  extra  amount  of  work  his 
enthusiasm  will  naturally  prompt  him  to  perform. 
For  the  camp  site  there  should  be  selected  some 
shady  woodland  with  a  good  stream  of  water  for 
fishing  and  swimming.  A  crude  lodge  may  be  con- 
structed and  all  the  necessary  crude  camp  equipment 
provided.  Each  boy  will  want  to  carry  his  own 
blanket  and  extra  clothing. 

One  matter  must  be  considered  in  all  seriousness ; 
namely,  the  sanitation  of  the  camp.  Even  at  the 
outlay  of  a  comparatively  heavy  expense,  the  camp 
food  supplies,  including  the  dining  table,  should  be 
screened  off  from  flies.  The  garbage  therefore  will 
all  be  scrupulously  buried,  and  it  will  be  ascertained 
with  certainty  that  the  drinking  water  is  free  from 
disease  organisms.  Then,  the  boys  may  sleep  on 
the  ground,  wallow  in  the  dirt,  splash  in  the  water 
and  mud  as  they  please  and  return  home  in  the 
best  of  health. 

6.  Exhibitions.  —  It  has  been  found  practicable 
to  have  the  boys  prepare  during  the  season  for 
coming  together  with  a  county  exhibit,  including 
a  wide  variety  of  things  peculiar  to  their  interests. 


140     County  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 

This  exhibition  should  be  made  as  a  big  annual 
event,  if  possible,  such  as  will  attract  all  manner 
of  persons  and  make  friends  for  the  county  associa- 
tion. In  its  ideal  arrangement  the  money  expense 
will  be  kept  down  to  a  minimum.  Also  keep  out 
the  idea  of  premiums.  The  contest  plan  of  pro- 
motion will  some  day  receive  its  desired  consider- 
ation and  lose  its  place  as  a  means  of  promoting 
social  and  spiritual  well-being.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  it  fosters  much  envy,  ill-feeling,  and  bitter  strife 
and  thus  strikes  at  the  root  of  the  good-fellowship 
which  you  are  striving  to  encourage.  But,  urge 
every  boy  to  bring  something  for  the  sake  of  the  help 
he  may  contribute  and  let  the  honor  of  this  service 
and  the  approbation  of  his  fellows  be  his  high  reward. 
One  boy  may  come  with  a  mammoth  pumpkin; 
another  with  a  device  of  his  own  invention  for  catch- 
ing ground  squirrels;  still  another  with  a  new 
method  of  tying  a  knot;  another  with  a  bushel 
of  highly  bred  corn;  others  with  farm  and  garden 
produce  of  the  same  attractive  nature;  others  with 
wild  grasses,  curios,  or  geological  specimens;  others 
with  the  parts  of  a  miniature  menagerie.  One 
boy  may  have  have  caught  a  badger  alive ;  another 
a  coyote ;  another  a  jack  rabbit ;  another  a  huge 
turtle.  Another  may  bring  a  cage  of  rattlesnakes 
or  a  box  full  of  snakes  of  all  sorts ;  another  a  set  of 
original  plans  and  specifications  —  for  an  ideal 
farmhouse,  or    farm    barn    and  surroundings;    for 


Materials  for  the  Boys'  Fair  141 

making  the  well  sanitary;  for  a  milk  house;  for 
keeping  flies  out  of  the  house  or  barn;  a  recipe 
for  driving  ants  and  other  insects  from  the  house. 
The  boys  in  one  family  may  come  with  a  lot  of 
samples  of  soil,  showing  how  differently  each  must 
be  treated  for  the  same  general  crop  results.  Others 
may  bring  specimens  of  "cheat"  and  noxious  weeds, 
and  the  like,  with  a  scheme  for  destroying  them. 
Another  may  have  a  plan  for  a  patent  churn  or  a 
labor-saving  device  in  the  kitchen. 

Thus  there  may  be  brought  to  the  boys'  fair  an 
interesting  and  most  instructive  variety  of  objects, 
plans,  and  devices,  all  looking  toward  the  improve- 
ment of  home  conditions.  Such  a  gathering  as  this 
will  bring  not  only  the  parents  and  other  adults  from 
the  home  county,  but  great  flocks  of  outsiders 
will  also  come  in  and  learn  and  become  deeply 
interested  in  the  affairs  of  the  County  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association. 

Spirituality  not  lost  sight  op 

It  ought  to  be  easy  for  the  average  thinker  to 
appreciate  the  fact  that  all  the  foregoing  rough-and- 
ready  work  in  the  lives  of  the  boys  can  be  made  a 
practical  means  of  the  salvation  of  their  souls  as  well 
as  of  their  bodies  and  intellects.  Spiritual  perfec- 
tion is  not  reached  at  a  bound.  There  must  be 
much  doing  of  the  crude  yet  worthy  things  which 
grow  naturally  out  of  his  inner  nature  before  the  boy 


142    County  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 

can  finally  achieve  a  degree  of  spiritual  development 
that  may  prove  a  permanent  and  fixed  part  of  his 
adult  life.  Yes,  there  will  be  some  Bible  study,  an 
occasional  short  prayer,  and  now  and  then  a  real 
sermonette  in  connection  with  the  work  of  the  or- 
ganization, but  much  more  frequently  the  Christian 
life  and  character  will  come  as  a  sort  of  discovery  in 
the  boy's  life  and  that  through  his  own  conduct. 

Through  all  this  wholesome  exercise  of  his  better 
and  cleaner  interests,  the  youth  will  gradually  be 
led  away  and  kept  away  from  those  things  which 
contaminate  both  the  body  and  the  spirit  and  intro- 
duce the  individual  to  a  coarse,  debauched  life.  In 
other  words,  Christianity  will  be  a  thing  achieved  and 
that  through  the  young  man's  efforts  rather  than  a 
thing  instantly  caught  in  some  emotional  revival 
meeting  only  gradually  to  waste  away  in  the  months 
immediately  following.  One  well-built  specimen  of 
Christian  manhood  —  a  character  of  the  sort  which 
the  ideal  work  of  the  County  Y.M.C.A.  may  finally 
construct  —  is  worth  a  dozen  of  those  suddenly  con- 
verted men  whose  secret  lives  are  so  often  embittered 
with  the  consciousness  of  backsliding  and  following 
ever  after  the  old  evil  ways. 

It  will  be  observed  at  a  glance  that  in  the  foregoing 
outline  there  is  an  avoidance  of  the  heavier  workaday 
tasks  and  problems.  It  is  the  thought  of  the  author 
that  the  boys  have  quite  enough  of  such  labor  as  it  is 
and  that  the  County  Y.M.C.A.  can  do  its  best  serv- 


Make  the  Work  Intensive  143 

ice  if  it  provides  a  set  of  new  activities  of  a  more 
recreative  sort.  The  central  idea  —  second  to  the 
perfection  of  his  spiritual  nature  —  is  that  of  giving 
the  boy  a  larger  amount  of  social  experience  through 
self-training  in  matters  that  will  bring  out  his  latent 
unselfishness  and  his  self-reliance.  The  heavier 
problems  of  an  economic  sort  suitable  for  discussion 
among  the  boys  and  the  girls  of  the  country  districts 
will  have  due  consideration  in  another  chapter. 

In  planning  the  various  parts  of  the  county  work 
and  the  club  life  of  the  boys,  there  must  be  extreme 
care  not  to  arrange  for  too  many  and  too  frequent 
meetings.  It  is  especially  to  be  desired  that  the 
boy  do  not  acquire  the  runabout  habit,  even  though 
he  may  in  every  case  go  to  a  desirable  place.  There- 
fore, in  arranging  the  programs  it  will  be  seen  to  that 
the  meetings  are  held  somewhat  infrequently,  but 
that  on  each  occasion  the  meeting  be  continued 
until  some  intensive  work  has  been  done.  For 
example,  it  would  be  much  preferable  to  have  all  or 
a  major  part  of  one  afternoon  and  evening  of  the 
week  for  the  exercises  rather  than  to  have  brief 
evening  meetings  a  number  of  times  during  the  week. 

Work  in  a  sparsely  settled  country 

The  following  statement  will  show  what  was 
achieved  during  the  first  year  in  the  Y.M.C.A.  of 
Washington  County,  Kansas,  which  has  a  rural 
population  of  about  ten  thousand  people. 


144    County  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 

General  Statement :  — 

181  boys  enrolled  in  Bible-study  groups,  meeting 
weekly. 

35  men  give  time  to  the  supervision  and  planning 
of  the  work. 

236  boys  attended  ten  boys'  banquets. 

51  out-of-town  delegates  attended  the  county 
convention. 

175  men  and  boys  attended  the  convention  ban- 
quet. 

161  boys  took  part  in  the  relay  race. 

91  men  and  boys  on  baseball  teams. 

24  boys  played  basketball. 

56  men  attended  10  leaders'  conferences. 

65  men  conducted  one  day  financial  canvass. 

200  boys  given  physical  examination. 

26  took  part  in  the  annual  athletic  meet. 

13  young  men's  Sundays  conducted  by  secretary. 

6000  miles  (approx.)  traveled  by  secretary. 

283  citizens  back  of  work. 

Financial  Statement :  — 

Pledges  unpaid  from  previous  year  $120.25 

Pledges  for  year 1568.25  $1688.50 

Received  during  year     ....  1386.15 

Due  unpaid  pledges 302.35  $1688.50 

Amount  paid 1352.89 

Due  unpaid 298.00 

Available  balance 37.61  $1688.50 


Association  Literature  145 

REFERENCES 

Neighborhood  Improvement  Clubs.     Professor  E.  L.  Holton.    Agricul- 
tural Extension  Bulletin,  Manhattan,  Kan. 
Camping  for   Boys.    H.  W.  Gibson.     Association   Press,  New  York. 

Careful  directions  for  camp  life. 
Training  for  Boys ;  Symposium.    Harper's  Bazaar,  March,  April,  August, 

September,  November,  1910. 
Keeping  Home  Ties  from  Breaking.    E.  A.  Halsey.    World  To-day, 

January,  1911. 
Training  Men  to  work  for  Men.    E.  A.  Halsey.     World  To-day,  March, 

1911. 
The  Organization  and  Administration  of  Athletics.     Dr.  Clark  W.  Heth- 

erington.    Annual  Volume  N.E.A.,  1907,  p.  930. 
Rural  Manhood,  issue  of  June,  1910.    Rural  Leadership  Number. 
Social  Activities  for  Men  and  Boys.    Albert  M.  Chisley.    Y.M.C.A. 

Press,  New  York.    A  valuable  book  covering  a  wide  variety  of 

activities. 
Rural  Manhood.    Henry  Israel,  editor.     50  cents  per  year.     A  most 

valuable  exponent  of  the  County  Y.M.C.A.  work. 
The  Physical  Life  of  the  Boy.    Dr.  D.  G.  Wilcox.    (Pamphlet.)    Address, 

Federated  Boys'  Clubs,  Boston. 


CHAPTER   X 

THE   FARMER   AND   HIS   WIFE   AS   LEADERS 
OF  THE  YOUNG 

No  less  urgent  and  divine  is  the  call  for  spiritual 
aid  and  leadership  in  the  rural  districts  to-day  than 
was  that  which  came  to  the  apostle  Paul  of  old  in 
form  of  a  vision  and  a  voice  crying,  "Come  over 
into  Macedonia  and  help  us."  In  the  open  country 
field,  far  removed  from  church  or  social  center,  is  the 
demand  for  leaders  and  directors  especially  great. 
Men  engage  for  a  lifetime  in  an  enthusiastic  endeavor 
to  amass  wealth  and  to  build  up  great  business  con- 
cerns. But  the  man  or  woman  who  heeds  the  call 
to  go  forth  into  the  country  districts  and  save  the 
bodies  and  souls  of  the  young  —  that  person  will 
not  only  experience  exceeding  great  joy  and  enthu- 
siasm in  his  work,  but  he  will  thereby  lay  up  for  him- 
self in  the  memories  of  the  redeemed  a  precious 
treasury  of  golden  deeds. 

Country  parents  as  a  rule  are  not  in  a  position  to  do 
the  best  things  even  for  their  own  children,  much 
less  to  go  out  as  leaders  of  the  young  at  large.  They 
are  sometimes  lacking  in  the  necessary  means,  more 
frequently  too  busy,  and  most  frequently  not  suffi- 

146 


A  Call  for  Leaders  147 

ciently  informed  as  to  be  fully  awake  to  the  meanings 
and  possibilities  of  any  such  undertaking.  However, 
in  nearly  every  country  neighborhood  there  is  a  man 
or  woman,  or  both,  who  possess  many  of  the  big 
opportunities  for  enlisting  in  the  service  of  the  young. 
Those  who  have  no  small  children  of  their  own  to 
care  for  would  naturally  be  freest  to  get  away  from 
the  present  home  duties.  Then,  some  parents  hav- 
ing children  of  their  own  not  infrequently  catch  the 
inspiration  and  heed  the  call.  At  any  rate,  it  is  en- 
tirely fair  and  reasonable  to  assume  that  some  one 
of  the  neighborhood  could  do  it  were  there  the  dis- 
position. 

As  a  means  of  arousing  any  such  persons  to  attempt 
to  do  some  constructive  work  among  country  boys 
and  girls,  the  following  detailed  suggestions  are 
offered.  Those  who  feel  at  all  called  to  undertake 
this  service  may  be  assured  that  the  interest  grows 
more  intense  with  time  and  effort  put  forth,  and  that 
the  joy  of  accomplishing  something  in  behalf  of  the 
young  people  of  one's  own  vicinity  is  perhaps  unsur- 
passed by  that  of  any  other  type  of  human  endeavor. 
In  the  discussions  to  follow  we  assume  that  some 
farmer  and  his  wife  have  heeded  this  divine  call. 

Preparation  for  the  service 

Since  very  few  are  sufficiently  versatile  to  under- 
take any  and  every  kind  of  social  work,  perhaps  the 
first  step  is  that  of  choosing  a  definite  line  of  action. 


148    Farmer  and  his  Wife  as  Leaders  of  the  Young 

And  let  the  choice  be  in  the  direction  of  the  chooser's 
leading  social  interest.  As  a  means  of  preparation 
for  efficient  work  a  brief  course  of  training  is  to  be 
much  commended.  It  may  be  found  practicable  to 
slip  away  from  home  during  the  winter  months  and 
take  a  farmers'  short  course  in  one  of  the  agricultural 
colleges.  Or,  one  may  find  the  peculiar  instruction 
and  inspiration  needed  by  attending  a  convention  or 
conference  of  the  ablest  leaders  representative  of  the 
work.  One  of  the  rural-life  conferences  now  fre- 
quently held  might  be  found  ideal.  Go  prepared  to 
take  notes,  to  ask  questions,  and  especially  to  obtain 
a  large  number  of  literary  references. 

The  use  of  helpful  literature  is  most  important  at 
this  stage.  A  magazine  which  admirably  covers  this 
particular  field  is  Rural  Manhood,  published  by  the 
Association  Press,  New  York  City.  Then,  secure 
the  report  of  the  Country  Life  Commission,  and  a 
number  of  the  latest  works  of  a  similar  nature,  some 
of  which  are  listed  below.  Write  to  the  Department 
of  Agriculture  at  Washington  for  their  bulletin  on 
the  organization  of  boys'  and  girls'  clubs.  Also  from 
the  extension  department  of  the  agricultural  college 
may  be  obtained  for  the  asking  all  available  literature 
of  this  same  general  class. 

Now,  make  a  careful  survey  of  the  neighborhood,  or 
the  larger  field,  with  a  view  to  finding  out  the  specific 
conditions  in  relation  to  the  chosen  line  of  service. 
Make  lists  of  names  and  ages  of  the  boys  and  girls, 


Social  Unity  the  Idea  149 

including  all  other  data  of  a  helpful  nature.  Proceed 
with  the  thought  that  the  work  to  be  undertaken  is 
not  to  be  merely  a  means  of  entertainment,  but  of 
education  for  the  young. 

Work  persistently  for  social  unity 

In  his  most  instructive  volume  "The  Rural  Church 
and  Community  Achievement,"  President  Butter- 
field  says :  "We  are  in  great  need  in  this  country  of 
an  institution  or  institutions  which  have  for  their 
definite  objective  the  study  of  the  conditions  and 
problems  of  farm  home-life;  not  merely  the  matter 
of  home  management,  or  home  keeping,  but  the 
fundamental  relationships  of  the  family  to  the  develop- 
ment of  a  better  community  life  in  the  rural  regions." 
Now,  let  the  newly  enlisted  social  worker  assume  that 
he  is  to  undertake  something  by  way  of  bringing 
about  a  fuller  integration  and  unity  of  the  people 
of  the  neighborhood. 

Every  new  worker  in  the  social  field  needs  a  word 
of  warning  against  the  rebukes  and  discouragements 
with  which  he  may  at  first  meet.  To  say  the  best, 
the  neighborhood  will  doubtless  be  indifferent  in 
regard  to  the  newly  proposed  organization.  But 
let  the  social  worker  go  on  persistently,  unmindful 
of  any  such  hindrance,  even  though  scarcely  a  per- 
son in  the  neighborhood  seems  ready  to  join  in  the 
movement.  In  the  typical  case  of  valuable  construc- 
tive work  of  this  sort,  it  will  be  found  at  first  that  the 


150    Farmer  and  his  Wife  as  Leaders  of  the  Young 

masses  are  practically  all  opposed  to  the  plan.  How- 
ever, as  fast  as  it  wins  its  way  through  unrelenting 
effort  and  unswerving  devotion,  the  doubters  and 
opposers  will  come  over  to  its  support.  And  after 
the  movement  has  established  itself  reasonably  well 
and  achieved  something  worth  while,  the  same  people 
who  once  stood  out  will  then  fall  enthusiastically 
into  line  and  help  with  the  undertaking. 

It  will  be  impossible,  of  course,  to  point  out  defi- 
nitely to  the  local,  self-appointed  leader  just  what 
plan  of  social  endeavor  to  follow.  Since  there  is 
such  a  great  variety  of  conditions,  it  seems  advisable 
here  to  make  a  somewhat  extended  list  of  possible 
lines  of  work  in  the  rural  districts. 

Corn-raising  and  bread-baking  clubs 

Perhaps  among  the  easiest  organizations  to  effect 
among  the  young  people  of  any  farm  district  are  the 
clubs  or  contests  in  juvenile  farm  work  and  home 
economics.  The  beginning  of  such  a  purpose  will 
consist  of  getting  into  communication  with  the  ex- 
tension department  of  the  state  agricultural  college. 
After  obtaining  their  literature  and  learning  their 
methods  of  procedure,  call  the  boys  and  girls  together, 
asking  their  parents  to  come  along.  It  may  be 
found  practicable  to  call  a  general  meeting  of  the 
entire  neighborhood,  inviting  old  and  young  possibly 
to  a  basket  dinner,  and  there  to  lay  before  them  the 
plans  of  the  organizations.     While  the  contest  in 


Plate  XIX. 


(Courtesy  of  American  Magazine.) 

Fig.  25. —  Jerry  Moore,  the  champion  boy  corn  raiser  of  the  United 
States.     He  raised  253  bushels  on  a  single  acre  of  ground. 


Provisions  for  the  State  Institute  151 

corn-raising  or  bread-baking  has  proved  a  marked 
success  where  tried,  if  possible  arrange  matters  so 
that  every  earnest  endeavor  on  the  part  of  the  young 
shall  receive  a  suitable  reward,  not  merely  the  winners 
of  the  first  and  second  prizes. 

It  is  usually  an  easy  matter  to  secure  funds  for 
paying  the  way  of  the  boys  to  the  state- wide  farmers' 
institute  or  the  boys'  institute  usually  held  at  the 
agricultural  college  during  the  holiday  season.  Pro- 
vide that  every  boy  who  reaches  a  certain  standard  — 
say,  that  of  raising  so  many  bushels  of  corn  on  an  acre 
of  land  —  shall  go  at  the  expense  of  the  fund. 
Likewise,  organize  the  girls  into  a  bread-baking  club 
or  something  of  the  sort.  Prizes  may  be  offered  for 
the  best  bread,  but  all  the  girls  whose  home-making 
work  meets  a  certain  fixed  standard  of  requirement 
should  have  promise  of  a  suitable  reward.  Perhaps 
they  too  may  be  sent  without  expense  to  themselves 
to  a  state  conference  on  home  economics.  In  case 
of  these  trips  to  the  state  meetings  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  appoint  responsible  chaperons  for  the  boys 
and  girls. 

Other  forms  of  contests 

It  may  be  found  advisable  to  start  a  good-roads 
contest  among  the  boys  of  the  home  township, 
offering  an  attractive  prize  to  the  one  who  shows  the 
best  results  at  the  end  of  a  given  period  and  a  per 
diem  payment  of  money  to  every  boy  who  faithfully 


152    Farmer  and  his  Wife  as  Leaders  of  the  Young 

takes  care  of  his  half  mile  or  quarter  mile  of  public 
road. 

Then,  there  may  be  instituted  on  a  small  scale  stock 
shows  and  poultry  shows  in  the  hands  of  the  boys  of 
the  neighborhood.  To  this  the  girls  too  may  come 
with  any  such  thing  as  display  specimens  of  their 
home  sewing  and  fancy  work,  house  plants,  and  the 
like.  In  fact,  these  exhibitions  may  gradually 
develop  into  a  sort  of  neighborhood  or  township  fair 
for  the  special  benefit  of  the  young.  To  this  display 
may  be  brought,  not  only  the  items  named  imme- 
diately above,  but  the  larger  variety  of  things  men- 
tioned in  the  chapter  on  the  Rural  Y.M.C.A. 

The  improvement  of  the  school  situation 

Rural  leaders  will  nearly  always  find  many  oppor- 
tunities for  improving  the  local  school  situation. 
But  let  the  organizer  keep  unfailingly  in  view  the  high 
aims  of  all  this  rural  work;  namely,  the  awakening 
of  a  deeper  interest  in  the  affairs  that  normally  be- 
long to  the  neighborhood  life,  and  the  fuller  measure 
of  joy  and  contentment  to  result  from  every  such 
achievement.  So,  there  may  be  undertaken  the 
redirection  of  the  work  of  the  country  school.  For 
example,  bring  forces  to  bear  upon  it  that  will  result 
in  the  introduction  of  the  study  of  elementary  agri- 
culture and  the  simple  elements  of  home  keeping 
and  home  sanitation  therein.  Work  for  a  better 
class  of  teachers  and  a  higher  salary  payment.     En- 


Improving  the  High  School  153 

deavor  to  have  the  length  of  the  school  term  extended 
and  the  school  attendance  made  more  regular.  In- 
stitute a  series  of  red-letter  days  for  the  school  dur- 
ing the  year.  It  may  be  practicable  to  have  a 
"parents'  day,"  an  occasion  on  which  all  will  be 
invited  to  come  out  and  join  the  pupils  in  a  noonday 
lunch  and  learn  more  about  the  progress  and  the 
needs  of  the  school.  Provide  a  half  day  for  free  and 
open  discussion  of  school  matters  and  if  possible  or- 
ganize among  the  patrons  a  sort  of  "boosters'  club." 

Another  form  of  endeavor  in  behalf  of  the  schools 
is  that  of  striving  for  improvement  of  the  high  school 
facilities  of  the  neighborhood.  Perhaps  there  is  not 
a  high  school  within  riding  distance  of  the  homes. 
Cannot  one  be  instituted,  say,  for  the  township  ? 
Or,  what  can  be  done  to  improve  the  present  neigh- 
borhood relations  to  the  high  school  that  may  be 
already  within  reach  ?  Is  there  a  prohibitive  tui- 
tion fee  ?  Does  the  high  school  now  in  existence 
actually  serve  through  its  courses  the  best  interests 
of  young  people  who  come  in  from  the  neighborhood  ? 
Again,  perhaps  it  would  be  feasible  to  organize  the 
grown  boys  and  girls  who  have  dropped  out  of  the 
country  school  into  a  neighborhood  group  and  pro- 
vide a  daily  conveyance  for  taking  them  to  and  from 
the  town  high  school.  By  this  means,  many  may  be 
induced  to  go  to  school  who  are  idling  away  the  valu- 
able winter  months. 

During  the  last  decade,  what  has  been  the  trend  of 


154    Farmer  and  his  Wife  as  Leaders  of  the  Young 

the  young  men  and  women  who  have  gone  from  the 
home  district  to  high  school  or  college  ?  Have  any 
of  the  best  of  them  returned  to  the  farm  ?  Or,  have 
these  institutions  been  a  means  of  sending  them  away 
as  permanent  city  dwellers  ?  Does  this  thing  need 
to  continue  ?  Cannot  some  movement  be  instituted 
for  bringing  about  a  radical  change  ?  So  long  as  the 
country  boys  and  girls  attend  the  town  high  schools 
and  there  be  required  to  take  the  old-fashioned  classi- 
cal courses  —  which  have  always  served  to  introduce 
their  minds  to  the  city  life  and  to  the  professional 
callings  —  the  country  districts  will  continue  to  be 
depleted  of  their  best  brains  and  energy. 

Home  and  school  play  problems 

Start  a  movement  in  the  interest  of  better  provided 
play  opportunities  for  the  children  of  the  neighbor- 
hood. The  possibilities  of  enriching  and  extending 
the  young  life  through  the  avenue  of  better  play  are 
just  beginning  to  be  understood.  We  have  always 
accepted  the  theory  that  young  children  must  have 
some  time  to  play,  but  we  have  given  little  or  no  heed 
to  the  matter  of  providing  for  their  play  such  appara- 
tus as  might  furnish  scientific  contributions  to  the 
development  of  their  characters. 

Make  a  brief  inquiry  throughout  the  neighborhood 
and  you  will  perhaps  find  that  not  a  single  farm  home 
has  apparently  given  this  matter  any  definite  atten- 
tion.   Now,  what  playthings  may  easily  be  provided 


A  Model  Playground  155 

in  such  homes  ?  After  having  determined  that 
matter,  begin  a  campaign  of  education  of  the  rural 
parents.  First,  write  to  the  Playground  Association 
of  America  in  New  York  City  and  ask  for  a  list  of 
their  literature  on  play.  From  this  source  you  will 
obtain  pamphlets  and  larger  volumes  giving  specific 
suggestions  for  installing  rural  play  apparatus,  and 
details  as  to  dimensions,  prices,  and  the  like.  Now, 
you  are  ready  for  work.  Appeal  to  a  centrally  located 
family  for  their  cooperation  in  establishing  a  model. 
Induce  them  to  provide  for  their  children  a  full  set 
of  the  apparatus,  seeing  to  it  that  the  expense  is  kept 
down  to  the  minimum.  Nearly  all  of  the  materials 
of  construction  are  lying  about  the  ordinary  farm 
home  and  need  only  to  be  assembled  and  put  into 
place.  Once  you  have  established  your  model  home 
playground,  then  invite  your  neighbors  in  to  see  it, 
perhaps  making  a  sort  of  picnic  or  holiday  occasion 
out  of  the  affair.  At  any  rate,  you  may  be  sure  that 
the  parents  of  the  neighborhood  will  begin  at  once 
to  copy  the  models  and  many  will  even  improve  upon 
them. 

Along  with  your  efforts  there  may  be  necessary  a 
campaign  of  instruction  and  admonition  in  relation 
to  the  play  of  the  children.  Many  parents  may  be 
working  their  small  boys  and  girls  too  hard  and 
allowing  not  enough  time  for  play.  In  this  respect 
your  persistent  effort  will  in  time  show  excellent 
results. 


156    Farmer  and  his  Wife  as  Leaders  of  the  Young 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  farm  home  selected  for  the 
model  playthings  has  at  least  one  small  boy  and  one 
small  girl  therein.  Then,  the  following  might  be  set 
up:  — 

A  swing,  a  seesaw,  a  sliding  board  or  pole,  a  pair  of 
rings,  a  trapeze,  and  a  horizontal  bar.  Have  all 
under  shade  if  possible.  Provide  also  a  small  play 
wagon  and  a  cart  or  two,  with  a  sand  box  for  the 
small  child. 

Inspect  the  district  school  in  reference  to  play  facil- 
ities and  you  may  find  nothing  other  than  the  bare 
ground  with  perhaps  a  baseball  diamond.  Here, 
then,  is  a  rare  opportunity  for  constructive  work. 
Organize  in  your  own  way  a  boosters'  club  and  pro- 
vide play  apparatus.  In  Chapter  VIII  you  will  find 
full  details  as  to  the  equipment  best  suited  for  the 
purpose.  Provide  in  every  case  that  the  expense  be 
minimized.  Nearly  all  of  the  apparatus  may  be 
constructed  free  of  cost  by  interested  persons  in  the 
home  neighborhood  or  in  the  near-by  village. 

A   NEIGHBORHOOD   LIBRARY 

Another  very  enticing  line  of  endeavor  for  the  rural 
leader  is  that  of  establishing  the  country  library. 
Some  one  in  the  neighborhood  has  a  big  house,  one 
room  or  more  of  which  may  conveniently  be  set 
apart  for  the  purpose.  Induce  the  owners  of  this 
house  to  clear  up  a  room  and  remodel  it,  if  need  be, 
and  make  their  home  a  sort  of  intellectual  center  for 


A  Neighborhood  Library  157 

the  district.  Of  course  the  schoolhouse  or  rural 
church  may  be  available  for  the  purpose,  but  the  farm 
home  will  be  better  for  a  great  many  reasons,  among 
them  being  the  possibility  of  having  the  library  open 
at  all  hours  of  the  day  so  that  books  may  be  exchanged 
on  the  occasion  of  one's  passing  the  place.  Now,  go 
after  the  well-to-do  residents  of  the  district  and  gather 
a  fund  for  the  library.  Paint  in  glowing  terms  the 
visions  you  have  of  this  thing  when  it  has  been  set 
on  foot.  Declare  your  purpose  as  that  of  helping 
and  uplifting  the  community  life.  Show  the  "close- 
fisted"  resident  that  the  establishment  of  a  neighbor- 
hood library  will  attract  desirable  settlers  into  the 
district  and  improve  prices  of  land  and  produce. 

After  having  obtained  a  small  fund,  consult  the 
best  authorities  for  advice  in  selecting  the  books.  By 
all  means  avoid  cheap  stories  and  trash  of  every  other 
sort.  Since  your  work  is  in  behalf  of  the  young, 
obtain  a  few  attractive  and  instructive  picture  books. 
There  can  probably  be  obtained  a  book  which  treats 
and  illustrates  fully  the  bird  life  of  the  local  state, 
giving  a  brief  description  and  pictures  in  their  natu- 
ral color.  Young  people  may  be  very  much  at- 
tracted by  authentic  books  of  the  nature-study  class, 
including  those  descriptive  of  wild  animals  and  of 
hunting  and  exploring  tales.  Consult  the  lists  given 
under  the  chapter  on  the  literature  in  the  country 
home  for  additional  titles  and  suggestions. 

If  it  be  found  difficult  or  impracticable  to  purchase 


158    Farmer  and  his  Wife  as  Leaders  of  the  Young 

books  for  the  neighborhood  library,  then,  the  next 
best  thing  will  be  the  traveling  library.  Communi- 
cate with  the  state  library  association  and  learn 
definitely  what  may  be  obtained  from  that  source. 
Then,  proceed  to  bring  the  best  available  volumes 
into  the  neighborhood.  In  the  selection  of  the  library 
do  not  forget  the  local  interest.  Secure  every  at- 
tractive volume  that  will  help  to  make  the  boys  and 
girls  acquainted  with  the  best  meanings  of  their  own 
community  life  and  more  interested  in  staying  by  the 
home  affairs  and  building  them  up.  Not  the  least 
among  the  valuable  elements  of  the  neighborhood 
library  will  be  the  periodicals,  in  the  selection  of 
which  expert  advice  is  recommended. 

Holidays  and  recreation  for  the  young 

In  an  ably  written  article  published  in  Rural 
Manhood  of  January,  1910,  John  R.  Boardman, 
International  County  Work  Secretary,  says :  "A 
new  gospel  of  the  recreation  life  needs  to  be  proclaimed 
in  the  country.  Rural  America  must  be  compelled 
to  play.  It  has  to  a  degree  toiled  itself  into  deform- 
ity, disease,  depravity,  and  depression.  Its  long 
hours  of  drudgery,  its  jealousy  of  every  moment  of 
daylight,  its  scorn  of  leisure  and  of  pleasure  must 
give  way  to  shorter  hours  of  labor,  occasional  periods 
of  complete  relaxation  and  whole-hearted  partici- 
pation in  wholesome  plays,  festivals,  picnics,  games, 
and  other  recreative  amusements.     Better  health, 


A  Weekly  Half  Holiday  159 

greater  satisfaction,  and  a  richer  life  wait  on  the  wise 
development  of  this  recreative  ideal." 

A  brief  survey  of  the  neighborhood  will  doubtless 
show  the  lack  of  general  method  in  dealing  with  the 
farm  boys'  and  girls'  holidays  and  vacations  during 
the  long  summer  months.  Here,  then,  is  apparent 
another  field  for  constructive  leadership.  In  pro- 
ceeding to  change  the  present  situation,  it  may  be 
well  to  gather  a  considerable  list  of  authoritative 
statements  like  the  one  just  quoted.  Farm  parents 
gradually  fall  into  the  habit  of  over-working  their 
half-grown  children.  Now,  if  we  can  institute  a 
custom  of  weekly  half  holidays  for  the  young  people 
of  the  neighborhood,  a  splendid  work  will  be  done 
in  behalf  of  a  higher  community  life. 

Begin  work  by  selecting  an  attractive  central 
location,  and  plan  that  the  young,  and  the  older  ones, 
too,  may  come  to  this  place  one  afternoon  every  week, 
or  at  least  two  afternoons  every  month,  and  have  a 
good  time  generally.  Games  may  be  played,  local 
clubs  may  meet  in  the  shade  of  the  trees,  the  sewing 
society  and  other  groups  of  women  having  their  in- 
terests served.  The  farmers'  clubs  may  have  op- 
portunity for  helpful  exchange  of  ideas,  while  the  little 
children  may  play  and  romp  about  the  premises. 
Invite  all  to  come  early  in  the  afternoon  and  bring 
an  evening  lunch  to  be  enjoyed  in  common.  Thus, 
you  may  give  the  young  people  who  regard  their 
everyday  work  as  drudgery,  such  interest  and  in- 


160    Farmer  and  his  Wife  as  Leaders  of  the  Young 

spiration  as  to  tone  up  their  lives  noticeably  for  every 
hour  of  the  long  days  of  toil. 

Many  over-work  their  children 

In  connection  with  your  efforts  in  behalf  of  the 
holiday  or  weekly  picnic,  take  up  carefully  the  matter 
of  the  proper  amount  of  work  for  the  farm  boys  and 
girls  of  any  given  age.  You  will  find  such  willing- 
ness on  the  part  of  parents  to  do  the  right  thing 
by  their  children  and  a  proportionate  amount  of 
ignorance  as  to  what  ought  to  be  done.  Therefore, 
you  may  be  able  to  carry  on  most  profitably  to  all  a 
campaign  of  instruction  in  regard  to  such  thing.  You 
will,  of  course,  first  make  out  as  best  you  can  with  the 
aid  of  all  available  literature,  an  ideal  schedule  of 
hours  of  work  and  play  and  recreation  suitable  for 
the  boys  and  girls  of  the  different  ages. 

At  the  holiday  picnic  it  may  be  found  advisable 
to  organize  the  boys  into  a  club  of  their  own  and  the 
girls,  likewise,  for  the  promotion  of  theii  several 
and  mutual  interests.  Inspire  all  with  your  earnest- 
ness and  enthusiasm  and  lead  them  to  consider  the 
latent  possibilities  of  the  neighborhood,  of  how  it 
might  be  transformed  into  a  place  of  great  worth  and 
attractiveness.  At  the  same  country  picnic,  look 
to  the  practicability  of  organizing  into  a  club  the 
tired  mothers  of  the  district.  They  are  many.  You 
will  know  them  by  their  careworn  looks.  Create  a 
sentiment  in  behalf  of  more  frequent  outings  and 


A  Country  Life  Federation  161 

more  recreation  for  these  women.  Help  them  obtain 
literature  relative  to  their  own  affairs,  to  exchange 
ideas  and  plans  in  behalf  of  their  own  betterment. 
Show  them  especially  the  possibility  of  quitting  the 
work  at  stated  times  even  though  that  work  be  less 
than  half  finished,  and  getting  away  from  the  tedium 
thereof  —  all  in  the  interest  of  longer  life  for  them- 
selves and  better  service  for  their  homes  and  fam- 
ilies. Almost  any  sort  of  club  which  these  mothers 
can  be  induced  to  attend  will  achieve  the  purpose 
desired. 

Federation  for  country  life  progress 

Federations  for  country-life  progress  are  now 
arising  in  many  parts  of  the  country.  One  of  the 
first  was  organized  in  New  England,  under  the 
leadership  of  President  Butterfield.  The  Illinois 
movement  may  be  described,  as  an  example. 

The  Illinois  State  Federation  for  Country  Life 
Progress  is  composed  of  nearly  half  a  hundred  subor- 
dinate organizations.  Their  platform  of  ten  prin- 
ciples given  below  sets  forth  a  number  of  most  im- 
portant and  practical  purposes,  as  follows :  — 

1.  Local  country  community  building. 

2.  The  federation  of  all  the  rural  forces  of  the 
state  of  Illinois  in  one  big  united  effort  for  the  bet- 
terment of  country  life. 

3.  The  development  of  institutional  programs  of 
action  for  all  rural  social  agencies.     This  means  a 


162    Farmer  and  his  Wife  as  Leaders  of  the  Young 

program  of  work  for  the  school,  another  for  the 
church,  another  for  the  farmers'  institute,  and 
so  on. 

4.  The  stimulation  of  farmer  leadership  in  the 
country  community. 

5.  The  increase  and  improvement  of  professional 
leadership  among  country  teachers,  ministers,  and  all 
others  who  serve  the  rural  community  in  offices  of 
educational  direction. 

6.  The  perpetuation  among  all  the  people  of  coun- 
try communities  of  a  definite  community  ideal,  and 
the  concentrated  effort  of  the  whole  community  in 
concrete  tasks  looking  toward  the  realization  of  this 
ideal. 

7.  The  recognition  of  the  country  school  as  the 
immediate  initiator  of  progress  in  the  average  rural 
community  of  Illinois. 

8.  The  study  and  investigation  of  country  life 
facts  and  conditions. 

9.  The  holding  of  annual  country  life  confer- 
ences. 

10.  The  protection  of  this  federation  and  of  all 
country  life  from  any  form  of  exploitation. 

The  vocations  of  boys  and  girls 

A  most  commendable  work  for  the  rural  social 
leader  would  be  that  of  showing  the  possibilities  of 
guidipg  country  boys  and  girls  more  scientifically 
in  the  direction  of  their  coming  vocational  life.     Too 


Training  for  a  Vocation  163 

often,  there  may  be  found  a  mistaken  farmer  who  is 
attempting  to  force  his  boy  to  take  up  the  farm  life 
when  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  boy  is  in  no  sense  fitted 
for  such  vocation  and  should  be  trained  for  a  dis- 
tinctly different  line  of  work.  Then,  on  another 
occasion,  you  will  meet  a  man  who  is  farming  simply 
because  he  has  to  do  it,  and  who  is  over-anxious  that 
his  boy  be  guided  in  the  direction  of  something  else. 
The  point  especially  to  be  emphasized  here  is  that 
the  parent  cannot  choose  arbitrarily  a  vocation  for 
his  child.  The  native  interests  of  the  latter  must  be 
consulted  again  and  again,  while  the  child  is  growing 
up,  and  in  the  end  the  young  person  must  decide  the 
matter  for  himself. 

The  world  is  full  of  wrecks  of  human  character 
who  are  such  largely  because  of  the  single  fault  of  their 
never  having  been  trained  scientifically  in  a  vocational 
way.  So  advance  as  best  you  can  the  idea  that 
parents  must  be  most  patient  in  awaiting  the  devel- 
opment of  the  various  instincts  and  desires  in  their 
growing  children,  and  for  the  final  decision  of  the 
latter  in  respect  to  a  calling.  It  should  be  made 
clear  that  many  of  the  best  and  ablest  men  in  the 
world  floundered  about  not  a  little  in  deciding  upon 
the  final  choice. 

This  very  important  matter  of  choosing  a  vo- 
cation for  the  young  man  and  the  young  woman 
will  be  taken  up  in  Chapters  XVIII  and  XIX  of 
this  book. 


164    Farmer  and  his  Wife  as  Leaders  of  the  Young 

Other  local  possibilities 

It  will  be  understood  that  the  possibilities  of  church 
and  Sunday  school  work  in  a  rural  neighborhood  are 
not  intentionally  slighted.  Little  is  said  in  regard 
to  them  here  simply  because  of  the  fact  that  there 
is  a  country- wide  organization  with  well-directed  local 
branches  and  with  a  flood  of  excellent  literature 
constantly  at  work  in  building  up  the  church  and 
Sunday  school  life.  The  reader  may  be  reminded, 
however,  that  this  field  still  presents  many  excellent 
opportunities  for  serving  the  highest  interests  of 
the  home  community. 

The  matter  of  purely  social  gatherings  for  the 
boys  and  girls  is  important.  It  will  perhaps  be 
found  that  they  are  running  to  cheap,  degrading 
dances,  either  in  the  home  neighborhood  or  in  a 
near-by  town.  If  the  rural  leader  can  break  this 
thing  up  and  substitute  a  literary  club,  a  better  form 
of  social  intercourse,  or  any  other  gathering,  for  the 
cheap  dance  and  its  resultant  debauch,  the  effort  will 
certainly  be  most  commendable.  It  is  not  as  a  rule 
advisable  to  condemn  and  denounce  these  cheap 
affairs,  but  rather  to  begin  at  once  a  movement  in 
the  interest  of  the  better  substitute.  Just  as  soon  as 
the  latter  begins  to  take  form,  the  young  people  will 
naturally  discontinue  their  degrading  affairs.  Chap- 
ter XIII  of  this  book  will  offer  a  more  extended 
discussion  of  the  social  problems  of  country  youth. 


Plate  XX. 


Fig.  26.  —  An  example  of  the  little  lonely  school  in  the  woods,  a  problem  of  the 
r-ocial  worker.  Xot  enough  children  to  stimulate  one  another  properly  iu 
the  lesson-getting  and  play  activities. 


Organizing  the  Boy  Scouts  165 

The  boy-scout  movement 

There  is  much  to  commend  the  boy-scout  move- 
ment as  a  country  organization.  It  must  be  thought 
of  as  an  educative  institution.  In  discussing  its 
best  meanings  and  possibilities,  Professor  E.  L. 
Holton,  of  the  Kansas  State  Agricultural  College, 
says:  "Education  as  used  here  means  habits  of 
health,  of  work,  of  thrift,  of  observation,  and  of  re- 
search. It  is  habit  that  determines  the  health  of 
an  individual  and  the  sanitary  conditions  of  a 
community;  the  social  and  moral  level  of  the 
worker  and  the  quality  of  his  work;  the  returns 
from  the  farm  and  the  ideals  of  the  farmer ;  a  man's 
bank  account  and  his  insight  into  the  secrets  of  his 
environment.  Habit  has  its  physical  basis  in  the 
flesh,  the  blood,  and  the  nerve  cells.  There  must 
be  actual  first-hand  experience  and  leadership 
hitched  up  with  text-book  knowledge  in  educating 
the  boy.  The  old  elemental  instincts  of  adventure, 
pugnacity,  gang  life,  and  following  leadership  must 
be  taken  into  account  and  made  to  work  out  into 
life-compelling  desires." 

Before  attempting  the  organization  of  the  local 
Boy  Scouts,  one  is  advised  first  to  send  to  the  national 
organization  and  that  of  the  state,  if  there  be  any,  for 
literature  and  directions.  The  only  caution  which 
it  seems  necessary  to  give  here  is  that  there  be  con- 
nected with  the  conduct  of  the  organization  some 


166    Farmer  and  his  Wife  as  Leaders  of  the  Young 

serious  problems  and  requirements  and  that  it  be 
not  given  over  exclusively  to  merely  doing  wild  and 
daring  "stunts"  and  "hiking"  about  the  country. 

Rural  boy-scouts  in  Kansas 

As  an  example  of  what  is  being  done  by  way  of 
organizing  the  rural  boy  scout  movement,  the 
Kansas  plan  under  the  direction  of  Professor  E.  L. 
Holton  is  here  given  :  — 

The  Agricultural  College  Council  is  organizing 
companies  of  Rural-Life  Boy  Scouts  in  all  parts  of 
Kansas.  The  aim  of  the  Council  is  "a  company 
in  every  community."  There  are  160,000  boys 
in  Kansas  eligible  to  membership.  It  seeks  to  en- 
courage boys  to  learn  the  secrets  of  the  prairies, 
the  streams  and  the  forests,  and  be  able  to  read 
nature  as  well  as  books;  to  have  a  growing  bank 
account,  and  to  do  some  type  of  work  better  than  it 
has  been  done  by  anyone  else. 

During  the  month  of  July  or  August  there  is  to 
be  a  five  to  ten  days'  Rural-Life  Camp  of  Instruction 
in  each  county,  which  is  to  be  attended  by  all  com- 
panies of  the  county.  This  camp  of  instruction  will 
be  under  the  direction  and  management  of  the 
County  Council.     The  program  will  consist  of :  — 

1.  Games  and  athletic  contests. 

2.  Contest  in  judging  farm  crops  and  stock. 

3.  Naming  birds,  wild  animals,  fish,  flowers,  trees, 
shrubs,  etc. 


Duties  of  the  Boy  Scouts  167 

4.  Reporting  on  the  savings  bank  accounts. 

5.  Contests  in  any  other  line  of  work  carried  on 
in  the  county. 

6.  Talks  on  rural  life  subjects. 

The  duties  of  the  individual  scout  are  as  follows :  — 
For  the  Third  Class  — 

1.  Know  by  sight  and  call  ten  common  birds. 

2.  Know  by  sight  and  track  ten  wild  animals. 

3.  Know  by  sight  five  common  game  fish. 

4.  Know  in  the  fields  ten  wild  flowers. 

5.  Know  by  leaf,  bark,  and  general  outline  ten 
common  trees  or  shrubs. 

6.  Know  the  sixteen  points  of  the  compass. 

7.  Know  the  elementary  rules  for  the  prevention 
of  typhoid  fever. 

8.  Plant  and  cultivate  according  to  the  latest 
scientific  methods  not  less  than  one-half  acre  of  some 
farm  or  garden  crop.  (The  town  boy  may  substi- 
tute a  town  lot.) 

9.  Own  and  care  for  according  to  the  latest 
scientific  methods  some  type  of  pure  bred  domestic 
animal.  (This  includes  poultry.)  Value  not  less 
than  $10. 

10.  Maintain  a  bank  account  of  not  less  than  $15. 

11.  Shall  strive  to  graduate  from  the  common 
schools. 

For  the  Second  Class  — 

1.  Know  by  sight  and  call  twenty  common  birds. 

2.  Know  by  sight  and  track  twenty  wild  animals. 


168    Farmer  and  his  Wife  as  Leaders  of  the  Young 

3.  Know  by  sight  seven  common  game  fish. 

4.  Know  in  the  fields  twenty  wild  flowers. 

5.  Know  by  leaf,  bark,  and  general  outline 
twenty  common  trees  and  shrubs. 

6.  Know  the  elementary  rules  for  the  prevention 
of  tuberculosis. 

7.  Plant  and  cultivate  according  to  the  latest 
scientific  methods  not  less  than  one  acre  of  some  farm 
or  garden  crop.  (The  town  boy  may  substitute 
town  lots.)      1  i 

8.  Own  and  care  for  according  to  the  latest 
scientific  methods  some  type  of  pure  bred  domestic 
animal.  (This  includes  poultry.)  Value  not  less 
than  $20. 

9.  Maintain  a  bank  account  of  not  less  than  $20. 

10.  Read  the  books  of  the  Young  People's  Reading 
Circle  for  the  eighth  and  ninth  grades. 

For  the  First  Class  — 

1.  Know  by  sight  and  call  fifty  common  birds  of 
Kansas. 

2.  Know  by  sight  and  track  all  wild  animals  of 
Kansas. 

3.  Know  by  sight  all  the  common  game  fish  of 
Kansas. 

4.  Know  in  the  fields  twenty-five  wild  flowers. 

5.  Know  by  leaf,  bark,  and  general  outline  all 
common  trees  and  shrubs  of  Kansas. 

6.  Know  by  sight  twenty-five  common  weeds. 

7.  Plant   and   cultivate   according  to   the   latest 


Further  Duties  of  the  Scouts  169 

scientific  methods  not  less  than  two  acres  of  farm 
crops.     (The  town  boy  may  substitute  town  lots.) 

8.  Own  and  care  for  according  to  the  latest 
scientific  methods  some  type  of  pure  bred  domestic 
animal.  (This  includes  poultry.)  Value  not  less 
than  $25. 

9.  Maintain  a  bank  account  of  not  less  than  $25. 

10.  Shall  read  at  least  two  of  a  list  of  books  on 
rural  life. 

The  motto  is:  "Know  the  secrets  of  the  open 
country." 

REFERENCES 

See  Rural  Leadership  Number  of  Rural  Manhood,  June,  1910. 

Play  for  the  Country  Boy.  Clark  W.  Hetherington.  Rural  Manhood, 
May,  1911. 

The  Y.M.C.A.  Socializing  the  Country.  Farman  S.  Vance.  The  Inde- 
pendent, April  15,  1911. 

Holiday  Plays.  Marguerite  Merington.  Duffield  &  Co.  Suitable  for 
rural  leaders. 

The  County  and  Local  Fair.  L.  H.  Bailey.  The  Country-Life  Movement, 
1911.  This  article  contains  many  practical  and  stimulating  sug- 
gestions for  making  a  successful  county  fair,  on  a  new  basis. 

Farmers'  Institutes  for  Young  People.  Circular  No.  99  of  the  U.  S. 
Department  of  Agriculture.  (Free.)  This  circular  gives  a  large 
fund  of  details  of  all  sorts  of  clubs  and  movements. 

Kindergarten  at  Home.  V.  M.  Hillyer.  Baker-Taylor  Company,  N  Y. 
Contains  much  constructive  work. 

The  Young  Farmer's  Practical  Library.  Edited  by  Ernest  Ingersoll  and 
published  by  Sturgis  -Walton  Company,  N.Y.  (75  cents  each.) 
Contains  some  excellent  matter.  The  following  volumes  are  in- 
cluded : 

From  Kitchen  to  Garret.     Virginia  T.  Van  de  Water. 
Neighborhood  Entertainments.     Renee  B.  Stern. 


170    Farmer  and  his  Wife  as  Leaders  of  the  Young 

The  Farm  Mechanic.    L.  W.  Chase. 
Home  Waterworks.     Carleton  J.  Lynde. 
The  Satisfaction  of  Country  Life.     Dr.  James  W.  Robertson. 
Roads,  Paths  and  Bridges.    L.  W.  Page. 
Health  on  the  Farm.     Dr.  L.  F.  Harris. 
Farm  Machinery.     J.  B.  Davidson. 
Electricity  on  the  Farm. 
County  Superintendent  J.  F.  Haines,  Noblesville,  Indiana,  has  a  fund  of 

helpful  data  on  agricultural  fairs  by  young  people. 
The  Extension  of  Industrial  and  Agricultural  Education.     (Pamphlet.) 

Extension  Department,  University  of  Wisconsin,  Madison. 
Children's  Singing  Games  Old  and  New.    Mari  Ruef  Hofer.    A.  Flana- 
gan Company.     Chicago.    Miss  Hofer  is  an  authority  of  national 
reputation  on  the  subject  of  play  and  games. 


CHAPTER  XI 

HOW   MUCH   WORK   FOR    THE   COUNTRY  BOY 

Over-work,  poor  pay,  and  little  recreation  are  the 
agencies  which  annually  drive  thousands  of  good, 
promising  youths  from  the  rural  districts  into  the 
cities,  where  their  splendid  native  abilities  for  serving 
the  world  and  society  are  most  likely  to  become 
subordinated.  All  too  often  it  is  a  case  of  a  young 
man  leaving  the  home  place,  surrounded  by  op- 
portunities which  he  has  not  been  allowed  to  avail 
himself  of,  and  going  into  a  place  where  he  will  take 
up  the  monotonous  round  of  merely  "holding  a  job." 
In  the  former  position,  under  intelligent  care  and 
direction,  he  might  have  grown  into  a  strong,  self- 
reliant  man,  full  of  resources,  endued  with  good 
purposes ;  and  at  last  have  taken  rank  among  those 
who  are  lifting  the  race  to  higher  things.  In  the 
position  obtained  in  the  city  he  is  almost  certain  to 
find  his  surroundings  badly  cramped,  his  spontaneity 
largely  restricted,  and  his  power  of  initiative  without 
a  motive  for  its  indulgence.  In  short,  his  city 
position  will  press  him  continually  and  insistently  to 
the  end  that  he  reduce  himself  to  a  mere  machine, 
or  a  mere  cog  in  a  great  machine. 

171 


172      How  Much  Work  for  the  Country  Boy 

See  that  the  work  is  for  the  boy's  sake 

One  of  the  means  whereby  rural  parents  may  assist 
their  boy  to  develop  into  that  fullness  of  life  which 
the  latter's  native  abilities  and  excellent  environ- 
ment guarantee  him,  is  to  provide  a  scientific  relation 
of  the  young  life  to  the  work  which  he  may  be  re- 
quired to  perform.  First  of  all,  what  is  the  proper 
way  in  which  to  regard  the  boy's  work  ?  Ordinarily, 
the  farmer  is  inclined  to  think  of  the  work  rather 
than  the  worker,  and  to  ask  himself  what  he  can 
put  the  boy  at  in  order  to  make  his  services  most 
profitable  to  the  business.  Now,  no  evil  intention  is 
charged  here,  but  this  erroneous  point  of  view  is 
almost  certain  to  lead  gradually  to  an  abuse  of  the 
boy.  Why  not  put  the  question  in  this  way :  How 
much  work  and  what  sort  of  work  will  be  most 
conducive  to  the  boy's  present  development  and  to 
his  future  welfare  ?  The  radical  difference  between 
the  two  positions  may  be  readily  seen.  And  while 
the  latter  may  be  less  profitable  in  form  of  material 
and  monetary  gain,  it  will  prove  to  be  far  more 
serviceable  in  the  production  of  sterling  manhood. 

It  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  determine  offhand  as 
to  the  amount  of  work  a  boy  of  any  given  age  should 
perform.  Conditions  vary  greatly.  The  safest  mode 
of  procedure  is  to  study  the  individual  boy  carefully. 
Let  the  parent  first  acquaint  himself  with  the  gen- 
eral principles  of  human  development  through  the 


Boys  not  Fond  of  Work  173 

service  of  suitable  literature,  as  recommended  in  a 
former  chapter.  Then,  the  boy's  physical  strength, 
his  aptitudes,  and  his  native  interests  should  be 
taken  into  account.  Among  other  aims,  seek  that 
of  a  happy  adjustment  of  the  boy  to  his  work.  Some 
of  the  tasks  required  of  him  will  be  and  should  be 
somewhat  irksome,  as  a  means  of  discipline.  On 
the  other  hand,  much  of  the  work  he  does  should  be 
backed  up  by  his  hearty  approval  and  good  will. 

It  is  probably  true  that  no  boy  is  instinctively 
fond  of  work  and  that  the  average  boy  must  be  held 
to  his  tasks  whether  he  chooses  to  perform  them  or 
not.  But  the  final  pleasant  relations  of  the  boy  to 
his  work  can  best  be  secured  by  means  of  counseling 
with  him  on  the  subject.  Explain  to  the  lad  the  fact 
that  industry  is  the  greatest  factor  in  the  world's 
progress  and  development.  Point  out  to  him 
instances  of  worthy  men,  young  and  old,  who  are 
faithful  workers.  Make  him  to  see  that  he  can  the 
better  become  an  honorable  man  through  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  labor.  Point  out  to  him  instances  of 
men  who  are  failures  in  life,  and  others  who  are 
criminals,  explaining  —  as  statistics  prove  —  that 
the  majority  of  these  delinquent  persons  were  never 
trained  during  youth  in  the  performance  of  any 
specific  work.  Show  him  if  possible  how  even 
the  wealthy  person  who  has  nothing  important 
to  do,  is  a  burden  to  himself  and  a  menace  to 
society. 


174      How  Much  Work  for  the  Country  Boy 

Not  enforced  labor,  but  mastery 

As  stated  above,  no  natural  boy  probably  takes 
up  hard  work  willingly  or  voluntarily.  Parents 
may  as  well  accept  it  as  their  peculiar  duty  to  direct 
and  discipline  their  boys  with  required  tasks.  But 
after  considerable  persistent  and  conscientious  en- 
forcement of  the  boy's  labors  the  parent  is  almost 
certain  to  be  rewarded  with  the  latter's  manifest 
willingness  and  fondness  in  doing  what  was  at  first 
thought  of  as  pain  and  punishment. 

It  is  a  serious  matter,  however,  to  observe  how 
many  grown  men  there  are  who  look  upon  their  work 
with  the  dread  and  disfavor  natural  to  little  boys. 
One  is  inclined  to  wonder  at  this  and  at  the  cause  of 
it.  So  far  as  can  be  learned  by  inquiry  among 
workmen  and  those  who  dread  their  enforced  labor, 
their  view  of  the  situations  is  about  as  follows,  to 
render  liberally  the  language  of  a  stonemason-philos- 
opher :  "Work  is  something  no  man  is  naturally  fond 
of.  Every  worker  would  quit  if  he  could  afford 
to  and  take  life  easy.  If  I  had  ten  thousand  dollars 
ahead,  I  would  never  work  another  day.  Of  course 
somebody  has  to  work  or  we  should  all  starve,  but  my 
advice  to  a  boy  is  that  he  get  a  good  education  and 
thus  learn  how  to  make  a  living  some  other  way." 

Here  the  parent  who  has  true  foresight  in  respect 
to  his  child's  development  is  confronted  with  a  serious 
problem.     It  is  not  merely  a  matter  of  teaching  the 


How  One  Boy  was  Trained  175 

boy  to  work,  but  rather  that  of  teaching  him  to 
become  master  of  his  work  in  order  that  personal 
pleasure  may  finally  come  from  the  performance 
thereof.  So,  one  must  follow  the  boy  most  thought- 
fully in  the  latter's  initial  steps  toward  satisfactory 
industry.  While  it  is  sometimes  advisable  to  take 
him  forcibly  back  to  the  place  where  he  failed  and 
even  to  enforce  obedience  and  effort  with  the  rod, 
it  is  most  certainly  the  parent's  duty  to  praise  the 
small  lad  for  his  first  light  tasks  well  performed,  and 
otherwise  to  show  appreciation  thereof. 

"It  took  me  a  year  to  get  this  boy  down  to  busi- 
ness," said  the  proud  father  of  a  fifteen-year-old 
who  had  just  won  a  second  prize  in  a  state-wide 
corn-raising  contest.  "During  the  summer  of  his 
sixth  year  I  took  him  with  me  into  the  field  on 
occasions  when  he  could  do  something  light  and  learn 
from  it.  But  my  chief  plan  was  to  train  him  in 
garden  work.  I  gave  him  a  small  plot  to  tend  and 
helped  him  lay  it  out  and  plant  it.  At  first  he  showed 
great  interest,  but  I  knew  that  it  was  of  the  playful 
kind  and  that  it  would  soon  wane.  Sure  enough, 
in  a  short  time  he  was  dodging  and  slighting  his 
garden  work.  Then,  I  began  a  more  definite  method. 
At  morning  I  would  instruct  him  very  carefully  what 
he  must  do  for  the  day,  and  at  each  evening  I  required 
him  to  compare  results  and  instructions  with  me. 
Punishment  was  necessary  more  than  once,  but 
slowly  he  began  to  catch  my  point  of  view." 


176      How  Much  Work  for  the  Country  Boy 

"I  bought  the  boy's  first  spring  radishes  for  table 
use  and  permitted  him  to  spend  half  the  money. 
This  seemed  to  open  his  eyes.  Later  I  paid  him  for 
his  other  produce.  During  the  second  season  I 
emphasized  such  matters  as  carefulness  in  selecting 
seed  and  the  arrangement  and  cultivation  of  the 
garden  produce.  Several  of  the  neighbors  expressed 
surprise  and  delight  when  they  saw  the  attractive 
garden.  This  merited  approbation  was  noticeably 
effective.  Since  that  time  I  have  had  little  trouble. 
I  can  give  that  boy  any  ordinary  farm  problem  to- 
day and  he  will  work  it  out  most  enthusiastically. 
He  has  learned  the  joy  of  mastery  in  his  work." 

The  foregoing  somewhat  lengthy  statement  is 
given  with  the  thought  that  it  may  furnish  illustrative 
material  to  others.  It  is  a  mistake  to  keep  driving 
boys  to  their  work  "just  because  they  ought  to  do 
it,"  as  one  stern  father  put  the  matter.  But  it  is 
altogether  fair  and  advisable  that  a  series  of  rewards 
be  offered.  The  youth  must  be  made  to  feel  that 
his  work  is  to  serve  some  worthy  personal  end. 
This  well-trained  boy's  reward  came  gradually  as 
follows:  (1)  parental  approbation,  (2)  a  money 
return,  (3)  the  praise  of  the  neighbors,  (4)  the 
joy  of  self-reliance  and  mastery. 

Provide  vacations  for  the  boy 

It  is  unreasonable  to  expect  the  growing  boy  to 
have  the  same  vital  interest  in  the  work  as  that  of 


How  One  Farmer  Manages  177 

his  parents.  The  wise  father  will  see  to  it  that  his 
youthful  son  has  some  outside  incentive  for  work, 
as  well  as  money  payments  and  words  of  praise. 
Vacation  periods  and  holidays  judiciously  placed 
will  prove  a  splendid  tonic  for  the  working  boy's 
mind.  The  schedule  given  below  will  indicate  the 
relative  amount  of  time  that  should  be  given  to  such 
recreative  indulgences.  Even  in  the  matter  of 
holidays  there  is  a  tendency  of  some  fathers  to  re- 
gard them  as  so  much  stock  in  trade  to  exchange 
for  the  boy's  extra  effort.  So,  some  farmers  will 
map  out  more  than  a  reasonable  week's  work  and 
say,  "Now,  boys,  finish  that  up  by  Saturday  noon 
and  you  may  quit."  In  such  case  we  have  mere 
exploitation  of  the  boy's  strength  and  energy  in 
the  interest  of  the  work  and  the  profits.  The  scheme 
will  fall  flat  sooner  or  later  and  leave  the  boy  still 
despising  the  work  and  mistrustful  of  his  employer. 

The  plan  pursued  by  a  prosperous  farmer  in  dealing 
with  his  two  sons  may  serve  to  illustrate  a  very 
good  method.  This  thoughtful  father  reports  sub- 
stantially as  follows :  — 

"  The  work  on  our  place  is  never  ended,  but  when- 
ever I  find  that  the  boys  need  a  vacation  they  get  it 
just  the  same.  They  are  fourteen  and  sixteen  and 
splendid  help  during  the  summer.  I  never  permit 
them  to  work  more  than  ten  hours  a  day,  while  they 
are  allowed  a  full  half  day  off  each  week  to  use  as  they 
please,  and  about  once  each  month  they  have  an 


178      How  Much  Work  for  the  Country  Boy 

entire  day  to  themselves.  Also  during  the  hot 
weather  in  the  middle  of  the  summer  they  have 
from  three  days  to  a  week  for  some  special  outing. 
Last  summer  they  camped  out  five  days  with  some 
other  good  boys.  It  is  my  theory  that  the  boys  who 
are  given  such  vacations  will  do  more  work  and  do  it 
better  than  those  who  are  not." 

The  foregoing  plan  may  seem  to  sacrifice  the  inter- 
ests of  the  work,  but  in  fact  it  really  does  not.  After 
all,  it  is  merely  a  question  of  the  right  point  of  view. 
Is  the  boy  for  the  sake  of  the  work,  or  the  work  for 
the  sake  of  the  boy  ?  Answer  the  question  con- 
scientiously for  yourself,  dear  reader.  And  may  the 
boy  be  forever  the  gainer  ! 

A   TENTATIVE   SCHEDULE   OF  HOURS 

Obedience  may  be  regarded  as  a  pre-requisite 
for  successful  boy  training.  So,  the  first  light 
tasks  required  of  the  small  lad  will  be  intended  as 
merely  a  means  of  training  him  to  obey  and  to  feel 
the  meaning  of  responsibility.  No  one  has  thus 
far  seemed  to  think  it  worth  while  to  attempt 
to  prescribe  for  the  work  and  play  of  children.  How 
different  in  the  case  of  the  school  requirements  ! 
Even  in  the  district  schools  the  thing  is  reduced 
to  a  system  —  both  the  quantity  and  the  quality  of 
the  work  necessary  for  each  age  and  grade  are  care- 
fully scheduled.  Now,  why  not  the  same  forethought 
in   planning   the   necessary   amount   of   the   other 


Ideal  Work  Schedules  179 

exercises  ?  And  why  not  have  this  scheme  made 
out  by  highly  trained  experts  as  is  the  case  with  the 
school  course  ?  There  seems  to  be  no  plausible 
defense  for  this  traditional  expensive  oversight  on 
the  part  of  society. 

The  schedule  below  is  offered  as  merely  schematic 
and  possibly  suggestive.  In  any  given  case  there 
may  be  wide  departures  from  it.  But  the  thought  is 
that  of  training  the  whole  boy,  and  that  for  the  sake 
of  his  own  and  society's  future  good. 

Age  4  or  younger.  —  May  be  taught  the  nature  of 
a  required  duty  from  being  sent  on  an  occasional 
small  errand  about  the  place.  Practically  all  the 
time  should  be  given  to  play. 

Age  5.  —  Use  substantially  the  same  methods  as 
for  age  4,  but  add  the  requirement  of  one  regular 
light  task  daily  and  follow  him  up  in  the  performance 
of  it. 

Age  6.  —  Continue  as  above,  adding  to  the  required 
tasks  slightly.  If  the  lad  now  be  taken  to  the  field, 
he  must  go  more  in  the  spirit  of  play  than  of  work. 
Of  course  he  will  learn  much  about  farm  matters 
at  this  age,  but  his  activities  will  be  largely  spon- 
taneous.    Note  the  plan  reported  above. 

Age  7.  —  At  this  age,  the  boy  should  be  required  to 
do  light  chores  at  evening  after  school  —  such  as 
carrying  in  wood  and  kindling  and  attending  to  the 
stock.  Or  he  may  help  in  the  house.  During 
vacation  he  may  help  for  two  to  four  hours  daily 


180      How  Much  Work  for  the  Country  Boy 

with  some  easy  tasks,  preferably  about  the  house. 
Of  course  there  is  much  work  about  the  barn  and 
fields  which  is  not  too  heavy  for  him. 

Age  8.  —  Some  boys  are  put  to  plowing  at  this  age, 
but  such  a  thing  is  little  short  of  criminal.  More- 
over, they  should  be  held  regularly  to  no  sort  of  work 
all  day  long  at  this  age ;  that  is,  unless  the  parent 
desires  to  reduce  his  boy  to  a  little  old  dried-up  man 
before  the  age  of  twenty  is  reached,  and  perhaps 
drive  him  from  home. 

Age  9.  —  Intermittently  half-day  or  all-day  tasks 
may  now  be  imposed ;  provided  the  lad  be  taken 
along  as  a  mere  helper  and  may,  about  two-thirds 
of  the  time,  either  play  at  his  work  or  regard  it  in  the 
light  of  a  playful  pastime.  Do  not  work  the  joyous- 
ness  and  spontaneity  out  of  him  at  this  young  age. 

Age  10.  —  An  average  of  five  hours  solid  work  per 
day  is  all  that  the  10-year-old  farm  boy  should  be 
required  to  do.  Much  play  and  recreation  of  the 
rougher  sort  should  supplement  it.  The  desire  to 
construct  something  with  tools  is  now  strong  and 
should  be  indulged.  Or,  see  that  he  has  a  pony  to 
ride  as  he  hurries  about  the  place  in  the  performance 
of  his  many  errands. 

Age  11.  —  Increase  the  required  tasks  about  one 
hour  per  day  with  similar  treatment  as  for  age  10. 
This  is  the  age  for  training  the  boy  to  be  a  sort  of 
"page"  in  service  of  his  mother  and  sister. 

Age  12.  —  Many  12-year-old  boys  are  required  to 


Plate  XXI. 


Fig.  27. 


A  tennis  court  in  connection  with  the  country  boys'  camp. 
There  should  be  more  of  these. 


Fig.  28.  —  A  country  play  festival.  We  cannot  answer  rightly  the 
question.  How  much  work  for  the  country  boy  ?  and  at  the  same 
time  neglect  to  provide  for  his  play. 


Work  for  Older  Boys  181 

do  a  man's  work  every  day.  But  such  a  thing  is 
done  in  the  interest  of  the  work  and  the  profits  and 
not  for  the  sake  of  the  boy.  A  good  way  to  measure 
his  worth  at  this  age  is  to  see  that  he  does  not  earn 
more  than  half  as  much  as  the  full-grown  man. 
Give  many  half-holidays.  His  interest  in  fishing, 
rowing,  swimming,  and  the  like,  needs  much  indul- 
gence. 

Age  13.  —  From  this  age  to  15,  watch  the  boy 
for  the  beginning  of  adolescence  and  be  unusually 
careful  not  to  over- work  him.  Most  of  his  bodily 
strength  must  go  into  making  new  bone  and  muscle. 
Frequent  intervals  of  rest  and  relaxation  should 
be  the  rule,  together  with  avoidance  of  too  long 
and  too  heavy  a  day's  work.  Even  permit  some 
crops  to  be  lost  rather  than  abuse  the  boy. 

Age  14-16.  —  This  is  the  time  to  begin  to  interest 
the  boy  in  working  to  serve  his  own  ends.  His 
social  instincts  will  now  appear  strong  and  he  will 
desire  many  new  possessions  not  hitherto  thought  of. 
Therefore,  adjust  his  work  to  these  new  interests 
and  lead  him  to  feel  as  much  as  possible  that  he  is 
working  for  his  own  advantage.  There  is  still  danger 
of  over-work.  So  see  to  it  that  rests  and  vacations 
with  opportunities  for  social  experience  are  frequent. 
It  is  a  matter  for  parental  concern  if  the  farm  boy 
be  not  able  to  return  to  his  labors  at  the  beginning 
of  each  new  day  with  freshness  of  spirits  and  over- 
flowing energy. 


182      How  Mitch  Work  for  the  Country  Boy 

Think  out  a  reasonable  plan 

Finally,  the  farmer  is  urged  to  take  up  the  matter 
for  consideration  early  and  make  out  what  seems  a 
reasonable  plan  of  relating  the  boy  to  his  work,  and 
then  to  adhere  persistently  thereto.  It  has  been 
charged  repeatedly  that  the  typical  well-to-do 
farmer  works  his  wife  and  children  hard  all  day  and 
until  late  bed  time  in  the  evening ;  that  heavy  chores 
are  piled  upon  the  boys  after  they  have  already 
worked  overtime  in  the  field ;  that  they  are  routed 
out  at  four  o'clock  every  morning,  when  they  go 
half  asleep  and  moaning  to  their  work  again. 

If  the  foregoing  accusation  be  at  all  true,  its  truth 
must  certainly  be  the  result  of  carelessness  and  igno- 
rance of  human  rights,  and  not  premeditative  in- 
humanity and  criminality  as  it  seems  to  be  !  The 
reading  of  good  farm  literature,  together  with 
some  intensive  study  of  books  and  periodicals  on 
the  care  and  management  of  children  —  these  will 
most  certainly  prove  corrective  agencies  of  some 
of  the  abuses  named  herein. 


REFERENCES 

Standards  in  Education.  Arthur  H.  Chamberlain.  Chapter  III, 
"Industrial  Training:  Its  Aim  and  Scope."  American  Book  Com- 
pany. 

Child  Labor  and  the  Republic.  Homer  Folks.  National  Child  Labor 
Committee,  N.Y. 


References  183 

Teaching  the  Boy  to  Work.  (Pamphlet.)  Wm.  A.  McKeever.  Pub- 
lished by  the  author,  Manhattan,  Kansas. 

Half  Time  at  School  and  Half  Time  at  Work.  F.  P.  Stockbridge, 
World's  Work,  April,  1911.  An  interesting  experiment  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Cincinnati. 

Care  of  the  Child.  Mrs.  Burton  Chance.  Chapter  X,  "The  Awkward 
Age."    Penn  Publishing  Company. 


CHAPTER  XII 

HOW  MUCH   WORK  FOR   THE   COUNTRY  GIRL 

Imagine  a  wedding  scene  in  a  rural  home.  The 
only  daughter,  a  young  woman  of  ideal  age  for 
marriage,  is  joining  her  heart  and  her  hand,  for 
weal  or  for  woe,  to  those  of  a  young  man  of  suitable 
character.  But  strange  and  unexpected  as  it  may 
seem,  there  are  many  tears  on  the  part  of  the  imme- 
diate relatives  of  the  girl.  Her  parents  are  mani- 
festing the  strange  emotion  of  solemnity  at  a  time 
when  gaiety  might  be  expected.  Why  is  it  ?  you 
ask.  The  whole  situation  has  an  interesting  and 
inspiring  history.  It  is  simply  this :  During  all 
her  years  the  parents  of  this  girl  have  watched  her 
grow  up,  through  infancy,  childhood,  maidenhood, 
and  finally  into  the  full  maturity  of  a  woman ;  and 
every  stage  of  her  growth  has  been  carefully  safe- 
guarded by  them.  They  have  made  the  home  life 
and  the  home  work  serve  her  needs  and  purposes  in  a 
most  beautiful  and  instructive  manner.  They  seem 
to  have  attempted  at  all  times  to  put  into  their 
daughter's  life  just  such  experience  as  would  become 
a  helpful  part  of  her  growing  character.  And  what 
a  reward !  What  a  splendid  satisfaction  to  the 
worthy  parents  to  be  able  to  contribute  to  society 
such  a  product  of  their  affectionate  care  and  training  ! 

184 


Unconscious  Error  of  Parents  185 

A  BALANCED  LIFE   FOR   THE  GIRL 

Should  we  follow  it  out,  the  biography  of  the 
good  young  woman  mentioned  above  would  teach 
many  a  valuable  lesson  to  the  parents  of  other  girls  — 
would  teach  them  that  a  growing  girl  has  her  specific 
needs  and  her  inherent  rights,  which  must  be  provided 
for  by  her  parents  through  the  proper  kind  of  direct- 
ing and  caretaking.  A  certain  amount  of  restraint, 
of  work,  of  play,  of  recreation,  of  social  experiences, 
of  practice  in  self-dependence,  of  opportunity  for 
service  of  others  —  yes,  a  certain  amount  of  all  these 
things  must  be  conscientiously  supplied  for  the  life 
of  the  growing  girl  so  that  she  may  develop  into  a 
well-rounded  character. 

Parents  are  not  accused  of  intentional  wrong  to 
their  daughters.  Such  cases  are  rare.  The  chief 
sins  against  the  daughters  of  the  rural  homes  are 
the  sins  of  neglect,  of  indifference,  and  of  ignorance  as 
to  what  were  necessary  to  be  done.  So  what  we 
may  accomplish  in  this  chapter  is,  first  to  arouse 
parents  to  an  appreciation  of  the  seriousness  of  the 
problem  before  them ;  and  second,  to  offer  some 
specific  aids  to  the  better  achievement  of  the  task  of 
bringing  up  a  girl  to  the  rural  home. 

It  is  a  well-established  principle  in  plant  propa- 
gation that  certain  nutrient  elements  must  be  present 
in  the  soil  before  growth  will  go  on  properly.  It 
does  not  satisfy  the  needs  of  the  plant  for  some  of 


186      How  Much  Work  for  the  Country  Girl 

the  chemical  substances  to  be  present  in  large  amount 
if  the  others  be  absent.  There  must  be  a  sort  of 
balanced  ration  for  the  vegetable  life.  Similarly 
in  case  of  that  tender  plant  of  the  household,  the 
young  girl ;  she  can  be  kept  alive  on  work  and 
study  alone,  but  for  beautiful  and  symmetrical 
growth  other  elements  of  character-nourishment  are 
necessary.  What  are  they  ?  The  reader  is  referred 
to  Chapter  I  for  a  general  list. 

The  hurry  of  work  and  the  isolation  of  the  ordinary 
country  home  tend  to  foster  an  over-serious  disposi- 
tion in  girls.  There  is  too  little  to  provoke  a  smile 
and  not  half  enough  practice  in  smiling.  Laughter  is 
also  too  infrequent.  A  boy  may  grow  up  habitually 
stern  and  sedate  and  yet  be  able  to  fight  his  way 
through  a  successful  manhood.  But  with  the  girl 
it  is  different.  Her  habit  of  smiling  and  of  be- 
ing pleasant  and  agreeable  may  prove  to  be  one  of 
her  most  valuable  charms.  So,  the  early  and  con- 
tinuous training  of  the  girl  in  sociability  must  be 
considered  among  the  parental  duties  to  her;  and 
that  by  encouraging  her  to  be  sociable  at  home  and 
by  providing  that  she  have  frequent  companion- 
ship with  others  of  her  age. 

Work  begins  with  obedience 

One  of  the  initial  steps  in  the  training  of  a  child 
is  that  of  securing  a  willing  obedience,  a  habitual 
performance  of  required  tasks  and  duties.     It  may 


Girls  to  be  Trained  to  Work  187 

prove  an  easy  matter  to  drive  the  girl  to  the  work. 
But  how  about  the  problem  of  teaching  her  to  take 
up  her  daily  tasks  willingly  and  with  a  joyous  heart  ? 
Girls  are  little  different  from  boys  at  this  stage  of 
their  education.  They  do  not  take  naturally  and 
fondly  to  work.  They  will  slight  and  neglect  it. 
Worse  than  that,  if  untrained  in  faithfulness  to 
household  duties,  they  will  lounge  about  the  place  or 
run  much  in  society  and  allow  their  mothers  to 
work  themselves  slowly  to  death  —  and  scarcely  seem 
to  realize  what  is  taking  place. 

Similarly  as  in  case  of  the  boy,  some  forcing,  some 
rebuke,  and  occasional  punishment  will  be  necessary 
to  initiate  the  girl  into  the  work  habit.  But  shortly 
obedience  and  willingness  will  come,  and  with  them 
a  deeper  consciousness  than  is  manifested  in  her 
young  brother.  After  that,  the  danger  of  over- work 
will  soon  begin  to  be  apparent  to  the  watchful 
mother,  and  be  guarded  against. 

Habit  formation  is  a  prominent  factor  in  the  first 
lessons  of  obedience  in  work.  It  will  be  highly 
advisable  to  start  everything  right.  After  a  few 
instances  of  slighting  one  kind  of  work  or  expending 
too  much  energy  upon  another  kind  the  young 
character  begins  to  take  on  these  faults  permanently. 
Many  women  scrub  floors  and  wash  dishes  unto 
their  death.  Others  perform  these  endless  tasks 
quite  as  well  "in  a  jiffy"  and  go  on  their  way  singing. 
Why  is  this  ?     Is  it  not  a  matter  which  the  mother 


188      How  Much  Work  for  the  Country  Girl 

should  think  about  most  seriously  in  relation  to  the 
training  of  her  daughter  ? 

Working  the  girls  in  the  field 

Is  there  any  justification  for  requiring  a  girl  to 
work  in  the  field  with  the  men  and  boys  ?  Many 
girls  are  doing  so,  whether  required  or  not.  Careful 
consideration  of  the  matter  seems  to  bring  out  a  few 
suggestions.  The  farm  girl  while  a  child  under  ten 
years  may  accompany  the  father  or  the  brothers  into 
the  field  and  there  be  permitted  to  do  some  light 
work  occasionally,  provided  she  regard  it  in  a 
semi-playful  way.  On  very  rare  occasions,  when 
older,  she  may  be  rightfully  called  on  to  drive  a  rake 
for  a  day  or  take  some  similar  part  of  the  work  in 
order  to  help  prevent  the  loss  of  a  valuable  crop. 

But  the  practice  followed  by  some  farmers,  of  often 
requiring  their  daughters  to  do  a  man's  work  in  the 
field,  and  excusing  the  fault  with  the  thought  that 
it  is  for  the  sake  of  laying  up  wealth  for  her  future 
enjoyment  —  that  is  abominable  and  should  be 
prohibited  by  law.  Among  other  objections,  it  is 
probably  most  hurtful  to  the  young  woman's  pride 
and  self-respect  to  be  forced  to  perform  farm  labor. 
And  then,  during  such  time  as  she  works  in  the 
field  her  much  needed  opportunities  for  the  practice 
of  the  womanly  arts  and  refinements  are  slipping 
away. 

Of  course  we  should  not  take  away  from  the 


Overworking  the  Daughter  189 

country-reared  woman  the  poetic  sentiment  about  the 
days  of  her  childhood  when  she  helped  rake  the  hay 
and  drive  the  cattle  home,  "just  for  fun." 

Some  specific  suggestions 

It  is  difficult,  of  course,  to  lay  down  specific 
rules  here,  because  every  case  is  a  special  one.  But 
nearly  all  intelligent  parents  can  easily  determine 
whether  or  not  they  are  fair  to  their  girls.  It  would 
seem  reasonable  that  in  addition  to  the  affection  and 
interest  properly  bestowed  upon  her  in  the  home, 
the  daughter  should  have  at  least  the  same  meas- 
ure of  value  —  money  value  —  put  upon  her  work 
as  is  the  rule  with  the  hired  helper.  Certainly  no 
worthy  parent  would  ask  her  to  work  for  a  smaller 
sum. 

Too  many  of  these  good,  promising  girls  are 
cramped  and  limited  in  their  lives  until  the  self-pride 
is  crushed  well-nigh  out  of  them.  Often  such  young 
women  will  be  seen  moping  about  in  a  stooped 
attitude  of  body,  stiff  and  awkward  in  their  manners, 
lacking  in  self-confidence  and  in  that  beautiful 
grace  and  ease  of  movement  which  mark  the  well- 
developed  young  woman  of  twenty  years.  All  of 
this  is  more  or  less  indicative  of  parental  disregard 
and  mistreatment  —  indicative  that  some  one  has 
cheated  her  out  of  the  time  that  should  have  been 
allowed  for  rest  and  recreation  and  social  improve- 
ment and  given  her  in  exchange  an  over-amount  of 


190      How  Much  Work  for  the  Country  Girl 

grinding  toil   and   enforced   seclusion  —  all  for  the 
sake  of  the  work  and  the  profits. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  so  many  country  mothers 
make  no  provision  for  throwing  extra  safeguards 
around  their  young  daughter  during  the  monthly 
period  of  physical  drain  and  weakness.  It  could 
probably  be  shown  that  her  lowered  vitality  and  the 
increased  susceptibility  to  fatigue  at  this  time  make 
almost  complete  rest  and  relaxation  highly  advisable. 
It  is  also  most  probable  that  the  strain  of  work  and 
the  exposure  to  inclement  weather,  so  often  allowed 
during  the  monthly  period,  are  the  incipient  causes 
of  life-long  weakness  and  disease. 

Do   YOU   OWN   YOUR   DAUGHTER? 

There  are  still  not  a  few  parents  who  are  possessed 
of  the  old-fashioned  idea  that  their  children  belong 
to  them,  that  they  have  a  proprietary  right  in 
their  own  sons  and  daughters.  Just  now  there  is 
thought  of  a  father  who  is  intelligent,  in  many 
ways  above  the  average  man,  but  who  seems  to 
regard  his  twenty-three-year-old  daughter  as  a 
sort  of  chattel.  Being  a  widower,  he  needs  her 
services,  so  he  would  employ  her  at  the  least  possible 
wages,  or  none,  to  take  charge  of  the  home,  rear  the 
two  or  three  smaller  children,  and  cook  and  keep 
house  for  himself  and  three  or  four  hired  men.  The 
best  excuse  that  may  be  offered  for  this  man's 
attitude  toward  his  daughter  is  sheer  ignorance  of 


Regard  for  the  Girl's  Future  191 

the  true  meaning  of  the  situation.  But  such  treat- 
ment of  a  mature  daughter  is  little  short  of  cruelty. 
This  young  woman  should  have  every  possible  op- 
portunity just  now  to  prepare  herself  for  the  future. 
Her  conduct  for  the  present  may  even  have  the 
appearance  of  being  somewhat  selfish  in  order  that  her 
future  well-being  and  that  of  those  dependent  upon 
her  may  be  safe-guarded. 

Further  details  of  the  foregoing  case  need  not  be 
given.  The  issue  to  be  made  out  of  it  is  this :  The 
parent  who  is  doing  the  fair  and  square  thing  by 
his  daughter  not  only  trains  her  to  work  and  then 
safe-guards  her  life  against  an  over-amount  of  work, 
but  he  also  sees  to  it  that  the  labor  she  performs  is 
contributive  to  her  enjoyment,  to  the  strengthening 
of  her  character,  and  to  the  perfection  of  her  life  for 
the  future.  Parents  are  justified  in  using  every 
possible  means  as  contributory  to  the  future  well- 
being  of  their  growing  daughters,  and  all  this  for 
the  sake  of  the  generations  yet  unborn.  Thus, 
perhaps  without  realizing  the  fact  at  all,  the  former 
may  return  to  the  race  life  that  measure  of  assistance 
which  they  themselves  received. 

Difficult  to  make  a  schedule 

It  is  difficult  to  make  out  a  schedule  of  hours 
for  the  growing  girl  as  we  did  for  the  boy,  but  the 
former  chapter  may  be  taken  as  a  general  guide.  As 
with  the  boy,  so  with  the  girl,  the  first  step  in  disci- 


192      How  Much  Work  for  the  Country  Girl 

pline  is  that  of  securing  a  willing  obedience.  Then 
the  tasks  may  be  assigned  in  accordance  with  the 
girl's  age  and  strength.  There  is  no  good  reason 
for  attempting  to  get  work  out  of  the  child  through 
a  make-believe  policy  of  play.  Children  had  better 
be  made  to  understand  from  the  first  that  the  world 
we  live  in  is  constructed  largely  through  work ;  and 
that  labor  is  honorable  and  may  even  be  made 
pleasurable. 

"I  should  rather  do  the  work  myself  than  be 
bothered  with  trying  to  get  the  children  to  do  it,"  is 
a  very  common  expression,  and  one  which  indicates 
an  erroneous  idea  of  the  problem  we  are  considering. 
So  long  as  parents  put  their  children  at  the  tasks 
merely  for  the  sake  of  getting  the  tasks  done,  the 
children  will  suffer  as  a  consequence.  But  if  the 
thought  of  the  child's  need  of  the  discipline  coming 
from  work  be  uppermost,  then,  the  results  are 
likely  to  be  wholesome. 

Teach  the  girl  self-supremacy 

One  of  the  greatest  problems  of  the  future  of  the 
race  is  involved  in  the  fact  that  many  thousands  of 
the  best  young  women  in  the  land  —  young  women 
who  are  well  fitted  to  be  the  mothers  of  a  better 
race  of  human  beings  than  we  now  have  —  are 
choosing  an  independent  calling  for  themselves.  It 
is  the  author's  belief  that  one  of  the  most  tragic 
experiences  known  to  any  considerable  portion  of  the 


Plate  XXII. 


E  is 
i,  -a 
•5  .3= 

5  S 

1  i 

i<       CO 

£  "5 

c:   o 


I* 

O    *3 

5c  a 


>>"« 


-5  *> 

—  to 

•B  .9 

^  i 


Dangers  of  Over -work  193 

American  people  is  this  gradual  starvation  of  the 
maternal  instinct  usually  necessary  in  the  case  of 
the  well-sexed  young  woman  of  the  class  just  men- 
tioned. 

And  yet  much  of  this  fatal  choice  of  an  independent 
vocation  on  the  part  of  many  young  women  doubtless 
results  from  bad  management  of  the  growing  girl. 
In  too  many  country  homes  especially,  the  work 
is  complete  master  of  the  housekeeper  and  not  the 
converse,  as  the  case  should  be.  As  a  result,  thou- 
sands of  good  women  who  ought  to  be  in  the  pink 
and  prime  of  life  are  going  pathetically  to  the  only 
rest  which  the  conditions  seem  to  allow  —  the  grave. 
It  is  an  awful  thing,  this  wreck  of  so  many  good  lives 
through  over-work.  Under  such  conditions,  may 
we  reasonably  censure  the  many  young  women  who 
foresee  such  a  fate  as  a  possibility  for  themselves 
and  avoid  it  through  choice  of  an  unmarried  life 
and  independent  support  ? 

Girls  are  more  readily  enslaved  to  work  than  boys. 
It  is  comparatively  easy  to  teach  a  young  woman  to 
work,  but  it  is  an  extremely  difficult  matter  to  teach 
her  when  and  how  to  quit  work.  Here,  then,  is 
the  point  whereat  we  would  center  the  attention  of 
the  parents  of  the  country  girl.  Make  her  mistress 
of  her  work.  Develop  in  her  by  actual  concrete 
lessons  the  ability  to  stop  and  rest  or  take  recreation 
at  the  necessary  time,  even  though  the  work  be 
not  half  done. 


194      How  Much  Work  for  the  Country  Girl 

Summary 

1.  Give  the  girl  a  trifling  daily  task  at  four  or  five 
years  of  age,  merely  for  the  sake  of  discipline.  See 
to  it,  however,  that  her  young  life  be  occupied  chiefly 
in  play  and  enjoyment  and  outdoor  recreation. 

2.  Gradually  increase  the  amount  of  work  required, 
but  always  with  an  eye  single  to  the  girl's  physical 
growth  and  character-development.  Some  definite 
thing  to  do  as  a  regular  daily  requirement  will  prove 
most  helpful. 

3.  Continue  throughout  the  daughter's  growing 
years  to  provide  for  her  pleasure.  Her  schooling, 
her  personal  belongings,  her  social  advantages,  and 
the  like,  must  all  be  made  to  serve  the  purpose  of 
making  her  life  in  the  home  a  happy  one.  As  she 
grows  in  strength  and  years,  she  will  assume  the 
increased  amount  of  work  with  willingness  and  even 
with  pleasure,  provided  the  assigned  duties  be  vi- 
tally related  to  her  present  purposes  and  her  life 
interests. 

|  4.  Moreover,  country  parents  must  learn  to'think 
of  themselves  as  first  of  all  engaged  in  bringing  up 
their  children  for  a  better  human  society;  and  sec- 
ondly, as  engaged  in  farming  and  housekeeping.  If 
this  point  of  view  be  held  to  persistently,  the  crops 
may  often  suffer  and  the  housework  frequently  re- 
main unfinished,  but  the  vital  interests  of  the 
boys  and  girls  will  continue  ever  to  be  served. 


A  Final  Summary  195 

5.  Finally,  let  us  continue  to  appreciate  the  value 
of  outings  and  vacations  as  potent  factors  in  reliev- 
ing the  drudgery  of  work  about  the  country  household. 
Women's  work  in  the  country  home  naturally  calls 
for  much  isolation  and  seclusion.  The  pre-adoles- 
cent  girl  should  be  taken  out  of  the  farm  home  once 
or  twice  per  week  during  the  summer  vacation. 
It  is  good  for  her  to  go  with  her  mother  to  the  town 
market  and  to  the  women's  club  meetings.  As  soon 
as  she  enters  young  womanhood,  a  square  deal  for 
the  girl  who  helps  in  the  home  will  call  for  a  weekly 
outing  of  some  kind  and  a  careful  provision  for  her 
social  needs.  All  of  this  outside  intercourse  will 
serve  to  quicken  the  body  and  the  intellect  of  the 
girl  as  she  goes  daily  about  the  household  duties, 
and  to  give  her 

"  Thoughts  that  on  easy  pinions  rise 
And  hopes  that  soar  aloft  to  the  skies." 


REFERENCES 

The  author  has  been  able  to  find  little  printed  matter  of  worth  on  the 
important  problems  outlined  in  this  chapter.  The  industrial  training 
of  the  country  girl  is  a  neglected  subject.  It  seems  to  have  been  taken 
for  granted  that  she  needed  none. 

Sex  and  Society.     W.  I.  Thomas,     pp.   149-175,  "Sex  and   Primitive 
Industry."     University  of  Chicago  Press.     Shows  in  outline  the 
emancipation  of  women  from  the  bondage  of  work. 
Growth   and   Education.    John    M.   Tyler.     Chapter   XII,    "Manual 
Training  Needed  for  Girls."     Houghton  Mifflin  Company. 


196      How  Much  Work  for  the  Country  Girl 

Mind  and  Work.  Dr.  L.  H.  Gulick.  Chapter  II,  "The  Habit  of  Suc- 
cess " ;  also  Chapter  XIII,  "  The  Need  of  Adequate  Work."  Double- 
day,  Page  Company. 

Motive  for  Work.  Margaret  E.  Schallenbeyer.  Annual  Report  N.E.A. 
1907. 

Wallaces'  Farmer.  Des  Moines,  Iowa.  Weekly.  This  periodical  prints 
many  articles,  editorial  and  contributed,  which  discuss  the  subjects 
treated  in  the  foregoing  chapter. 

The  Mother  of  the  Living.  Mrs.  Catherine  Barton.  Published  by  the 
Author.    Kansas  City,  Mo. 

The  Girl  Wanted.  Nixon  Waterman.  Chapter  VIII,  "The  Purpose  of 
Life."    Forbes  &  Co.,  Chicago. 

Life's  Day.  William  L.  Bainbridge,  M.D.  Chapter  VIII,  "The 
Irresponsible  Age."     Frederic  A.  Stokes  Company,  N.Y. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

SOCIAL  TRAINING  FOR  FARM  BOYS  AND 
GIRLS 

We  have  been  exceedingly  slow  in  realizing  the 
social  needs  of  our  children,  in  the  usual  instance 
depending  on  chance  conditions  to  determine  the 
matter  for  us.  The  city  and  the  rural  communities 
present  a  striking  contrast  in  this  respect.  It  does 
not  seem  possible  that  both  can  be  right,  while  there 
is  much  to  support  the  opinion  that  both  are  wrong. 
That  is  to  say,  in  the  city  community  the  majority 
of  the  children  are  allowed  to  spend  too  much  time 
in  the  company  of  others.  As  a  result,  they  take  on 
social  manners  and  customs  in  a  mere  formal  way  and 
by  far  too  early  for  the  good  of  their  character-de- 
velopment. The  city  ripens  young  life  too  fast. 
It  produces  the  manners  and  refinements  of  adult 
life  before  the  child  becomes  matured  mentally.  In 
the  ordinary  rural  community  there  is  not  enough 
social  experience  for  the  young;  and  hence,  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  crudeness,  awkwardness,  and  lack  of 
refinement  tend  to  linger  permanently  in  the  charac- 
ter. 

A  HAPPY  MEAN  IS  NEEDED 

What  seems  necessary,  therefore,  is  the  establish- 
ment of  a  social  life  which  will  be  a  compromise 

197 


198      Social  Training  for  Farm  Boys  and  Girls 

between  the  excess  of  the  city  and  the  deficit  of  the 
country.  So  far  as  can  be  learned,  very  little  has 
been  achieved  in  the  matter  of  establishing  just  such  a 
social  order  in  the  rural  communities  as  will  tend 
to  develop  the  lives  of  the  boys  and  girls  in  an  ideal, 
symmetrical  way.  We  may  not  feel  very  certain 
as  to  just  how  this  ideal  juvenile  society  should  be 
constructed.  Nevertheless,  an  attempt  will  be  made 
to  sketch  in  this  chapter  a  working  plan  therefor. 
Some  may  see  fit  to  adapt  it,  while  others  may  im- 
prove it  through  practice. 

What  especially  needs  to  be  thought  of  in  the  de- 
velopment of  any  normal  young  life  is  the  problem 
of  rounding  out  the  character  on  all  sides.  There 
are  certain  fundamental  character-forming  experi- 
ences and  disciplines,  such  as  work,  play,  recreation, 
and  social  intercourse.  Many  parents  seem  to  be 
possessed  of  the  idea  that  they  can  develop  their 
children  through  play  and  social  training  alone. 
Others  seem  to  believe  that  hard  work  and  plenty  of 
it  is  all  that  is  necessary  for  the  development  of  a 
substantial  character  in  the  young.  Still  others 
appear  to  allow  their  boys  and  girls  to  roam  at  will 
and  to  indulge  them  only  in  the  recreative  experi- 
ences. But  how  indefensible  the  idea  that  anyone 
should  try  to  find  permanent  joy  and  satisfaction 
through  recreative  experiences  without  first  having 
had  as  their  counterpart  the  experience  of  work  and 
the  responsibilities  that  pertain  thereto  ! 


Sex  and  Youthful  Society  199 

So,  again,  it  may  be  contended  that  there  is  a  happy- 
mean  between  the  over- work  and  the  absence  of  social 
experience  so  common  in  the  farming  communities 
and  the  lack  of  work  and  the  extreme  social  excite- 
ment that  so  often  obtains  in  the  life  of  the  city  child. 

A   SOCIAL  RENAISSANCE   IN   THE   COUNTRY 

There  is  becoming  more  and  more  apparent  the 
necessity  of  not  only  a  revival  of  the  social  life  in  the 
country,  but  also  the  demand  for  its  reconstruction. 
It  is  especially  to  be  desired  that  the  reorganization 
be  effected  under  the  guidance  of  sound  principles  of 
psychology  and  sociology.  That  is,  it  must  be  based 
on  the  fundamental  fact  of  the  sex  instinct  so  promi- 
nent during  the  adolescent  period,  and  the  further 
fact  of  the  imperative  demand  at  this  time  for  a  large 
amount  of  social  intercourse.  How  differently  this 
point  of  view  persistently  held  will  shape  the  matter 
as  compared  with  the  older  ideal  of  merely  "giving 
the  young  folks  a  good  time"!  Yes,  the  social  life 
of  adolescent  boys  and  girls  has  its  source  in  the  sex 
instinct  then  so  predominant.  It  is  not  therefore 
to  be  viewed  as  a  piece  of  superficial  sentimentality, 
but  rather  as  a  profound  law  of  nature. 

As  suggested  by  two  or  three  of  the  preceding 
chapters,  there  may  be  organized  a  social  center  in 
the  church,  or  other  such  centers  may  develop  inde- 
pendently through  the  leadership  of  some  mature 
persons.     But   instances   of  this   class   of  effective 


200      Social  Training  for  Farm  Boys  and  Girls 

organization  are  as  yet  few  and  far  between.  Mean- 
while, the  young  are  growing  up  and  their  present 
social  needs  are  very  pressing.  Individual  farmers 
cannot  wait  for  neighborhood  movements;  and  so 
the  parents  of  the  children  requiring  the  social  life 
must  themselves  take  the  initiative  in  the  matter. 

Conditions  to  guard  against 

Before  proceeding  to  a  detailed  outline  of  various 
plans  for  supplying  the  social  needs  of  rural  young 
people,  it  may  be  well  to  point  out  a  few  of  the  pitfalls 
to  be  guarded  against.  In  reference  to  the  latter,  it 
is  not  the  purpose  to  advise  parents  to  try  to  place 
their  children  in  an  exclusive  social  set.  Far  from 
that.  The  purpose  is  rather  the  converse;  namely, 
to  urge  parents  to  attempt  to  build  up  good,  clean 
characters  in  their  boys  and  girls  and  yet  permit  the 
latter  to  mingle  freely  with  common  humanity.  An 
aristocracy  in  the  towns  and  cities  is  bad  enough  and 
a  thing  wholly  out  of  harmony  with  the  best  and  high- 
est interpretation  of  our  national  life;  but  an  aris- 
tocracy in  the  country  neighborhood  is  an  abomina- 
tion. 

But  while  the  so-called  best  families  must  think 
of  their  young  as  growing  members  of  the  entire  social 
community  and  not  as  belonging  to  an  exclusive  set, 
there  is  nevertheless  great  need  of  constant  watchful- 
ness in  respect  to  certain  evils  that  always  threaten 
the  lives  of  farmers'  sons  and  daughters. 


Safeguarding  the  Girts'  Morals  201 

1.  The  social  companionships  of  girls.  —  Of  course 
it  must  be  admitted  that  there  is  frequently  present 
in  the  country  neighborhood  some  vile  or  wicked 
young  character  whose  influence  is  very  pernicious. 
On  one  occasion  this  person  may  appear  in  the  guise 
of  an  exemplary  young  man,  smooth  in  manners, 
stylishly  dressed,  and  apparently  interested  in  the 
best  affairs.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  may  be 
secretly  an  agent  for  some  infamous  institution  in  the 
city.  The  records  show  that  thousands  of  country 
girls  have  been  enticed  away  to  the  cities  by  such 
characters  only  to  meet  an  untimely  and  awful  fate. 
The  parents  of  the  country  girl  should  therefore  know 
who  the  young  man  is  with  whom  she  keeps  company. 
Usually  it  is  a  comparatively  easy  matter  to  test  his 
worth.  If  he  have  no  fixed  local  attachment  in  a 
home,  and  no  permanent  business  relations  in  the 
community,  he  may  be  regarded  with  suspicion  at 
least,  and  may  be  compelled  to  furnish  evidence  of  his 
moral  integrity. 

Another  type  of  the  young  country  man  unworthy 
of  the  company  and  companionship  of  the  young 
woman  is  the  one  who  is  known  by  the  men  of  the 
community  as  being  habituated  to  the  use  of  vile 
and  indecent  language,  or  to  the  practice  of  drinking 
intoxicants.  If  such  be  among  his  known  char- 
acteristics, the  evidence  is  decidedly  unfavorable, 
making  him  unsuitable  as  a  social  companion  of  the 
country  girl.     It  is  reasonable  to  predict  that  he  will 


202    Social  Training  for  Farm  Boys  and  Girls 

never  change  his  ways  very  radically,  and  especially 
that  he  will  not  develop  into  a  desirable  life  compan- 
ion for  the  daughter.  Some  good  parents  make  the 
fatal  blunder  of  allowing  their  girl  to  keep  company 
with  such  a  coarse-grained  young  man  simply  be- 
cause he  is  so  "good  hearted,"  and  "means  well," 
and  the  like.  To  say  the  least,  a  depraved  social  taste 
will  gradually  develop  in  the  girl's  life  if  she  continue 
in  such  company. 

Another  contamination  for  the  country  girl  some- 
times results  from  the  depraved  young  woman  who 
has  drifted  into  the  neighborhood.  The  girl  herself 
will  be  in  the  best  position  to  detect  such  a  type,  as 
the  latter  will  be  marked  by  her  coarse  manners  when 
in  the  presence  of  the  girls,  and  by  her  practice  of 
discussing  obscene  matters  in  private  conversation 
with  them.  This  is  the  situation  in  which  the  inno- 
cent young  girl's  mind  may  become  forever  poisoned 
and  her  wholesome  faith  in  humanity  entirely  too 
much  unsettled. 

2.  Bad  companionships  for  boys.  Similar  warnings 
as  those  given  above  need  to  be  sounded  with  refer- 
ence to  the  young  country  boys,  and  others  as  well. 
Farm  boys  are  necessarily  much  in  the  company  of 
men  of  very  common  tastes  and  low  ideals.  They 
hear  not  a  little  evil  conversation  and  profanity,  as 
it  is  used  by  such  men.  As  a  result,  there  will  be 
need  of  much  constructive  teaching  at  home.  Ad- 
monitions, warnings,  and  advice  will  be  necessary. 


Contracting  Social  Evils  203 

In  every  instance  it  is  well  for  the  parents  to  remind 
the  boy  of  the  great  interest  they  have  in  his  welfare, 
of  how  deeply  he  may  grieve  them  by  taking  up  any 
of  the  evil  practices  in  question,  and  of  the  high  ideal 
which  they  hold  in  mind  for  his  future. 

Farm  parents  will  need  to  keep  up  an  intimate  and 
frank  exchange  of  ideas  with  their  youthful  son  on 
the  general  subjects  discussed  in  this  chapter.  They 
may  ask  him  to  repeat  all  he  has  heard  and  to  relate 
all  he  has  seen,  good  and  bad,  they  then  offering 
their  corrections  and  admonitions.  The  especial 
danger  is  that  the  boy  may  acquire  evil  forms  of 
speech,  pernicious  ideas  for  his  secret  thoughts,  and  a 
too  low  estimate  of  the  worth  of  humanity.  The 
vile  companion  is  especially  inclined  to  make  the 
youth  believe  that  there  is  no  purity  of  character 
among  girls  and  women  —  a  most  lamentable  state 
of  mind  for  a  boy  or  a  man  of  any  age. 

The  boy  in  the  country  is  not  only  very  much  in 
danger  of  having  his  mind  contaminated  by  the  evil 
speech  and  the  evil  misinformation  mentioned  above, 
but  there  is  always  the  possibility  of  his  being  enticed 
by  some  older  and  depraved  companion  into  the 
company  of  evil  women.  Strange  to  say,  there  are  a 
few  men  who  seem  to  plan  deliberately  this  form  of 
downfall  for  innocent  boys  and  to  regard  the  success 
of  their  vile  plot  in  the  light  of  a  mere  joke.  It  is 
perhaps  a  fault  of  society  that  such  men  are  per- 
mitted to  run  at  large.     And  it  is  especially  the  fault 


204    Social  Training  for  Farm  Boys  and  Girls 

of  fathers  if  such  men  keep  company  with  their  boys. 
No  matter  how  excellent  the  family  history,  how  well- 
born the  boy  may  be,  and  how  carefully  he  has  been 
admonished,  there  is  always  some  danger  of  his 
yielding  to  an  evil  sex  temptation  —  a  situation  which 
the  parent  should  always  be  watchful  about  and  ready 
to  meet. 

3.  Secret  sex  habits.  —  It  is  probable  that  country 
boys  are  more  prone  to  secret  perversions  of  their  sex 
life  than  are  city  boys.  The  enforced  solitude  of  the 
former  and  the  increased  opportunities  for  such  secret 
evil  may  be  accountable  for  the  difference.  In  any 
event,  there  is  necessity  of  constant  watchfulness, 
and  that  especially  until  the  son  has  reached  com- 
parative maturity  of  the  physical  body.  The  danger 
is  at  its  height  at  the  beginning  of  the  adolescent 
period,  fourteen  to  sixteen  years  of  age.  But  the 
preparation  for  meeting  the  possible  sex  perversion 
should  be  begun  very  early  and  consist  in  frank  talks 
and  admonitions.  The  small  boy's  questions  about 
the  origin  of  life  must  be  answered  frankly  but  only 
to  the  extent  of  imparting  to  him  enough  information 
to  satisfy  his  present  curiosity.  Thus  to  satisfy 
his  childish  curiosity  will  prove  a  means  of  counter- 
acting the  evil  influences  of  the  bad  companionships 
referred  to  above.  Then,  the  youth  needs  to  be 
shown  some  instances  of  the  ruinous  effects  of  sex 
perversion  in  boys  and  men,  together  with  the  incul- 
cation of  the  idea  that  any  such  evil  practice  will  cut 


The  Evils  of  Smoking  205 

off  the  possibility  of  his  realizing  the  high  standards  of 
moral  character  set  for  him.  It  is  well  also  to  remem- 
ber that  prevention  of  the  boy's  misuse  of  his  sex 
life  is  comparatively  easy  and  that  cure  is  extremely 
difficult. 

4.  The  so-called  bad  habits.  —  When  we  speak  of 
the  "bad  habits"  among  boys  and  men  we  are  in- 
clined to  think  of  swearing,  smoking,  and  the  use  of 
intoxicants.  Without  thought  of  defending  the 
practice  of  profanity,  we  may  say  that  it  is  often 
acquired  in  an  innocent  fashion  and  that  it  ordinarily 
implies  no  conscious  or  intentional  evil.  That  is,  it 
is  usually  not  so  bad  in  its  actual  analysis  as  it  sounds 
to  the  listener.  Moreover,  it  is  a  habit  which  many 
boys  take  up  and  afterwards  discontinue  when  once 
they  have  set  up  for  themselves  high  standards  of 
manliness. 

With  juvenile  smoking  the  case  is  different.  With- 
out the  thought  of  offending  the  adult  smoker  or 
defending  adult  smoking,  we  may  say  with  a  high 
degree  of  certainty  that  the  use  of  tobacco  is  ex- 
tremely hurtful  to  growing  boys.  It  weakens  and 
deranges  the  organic  processes,  leaves  its  deleterious 
effects  in  the  throat,  eyes,  and  lungs,  and  breaks  down 
the  natural  constitutional  defense  so  essential  in 
time  of  such  diseases  as  pneumonia  and  typhoid 
fever.  On  the  mental  side,  tobacco  lessens  the  boy's 
ability  to  study.  Very  wide  investigations  have 
shown  that  the  habitual  smokers  among  school  boys 


206    Social  Training  for  Farm  Boys  and  Girls 

rank  low  in  scholarship ;  that  they  are  prone  to  fail 
in  their  classes  and  quit  the  schools ;  that  almost  none 
of  them  take  high  rank  as  students.  The  moral 
effects  are  even  worse.  In  times  of  temptation  the 
young  boy  who  smokes  is  more  inclined  to  yield 
and  to  choose  the  worse  form  of  conduct  instead  of 
the  better.  He  lacks  especially  that  fine  sense  of 
inner  worth  so  necessary  for  the  one  who  would 
succeed  in  arousing  his  own  moral  courage  sufficiently 
to  withstand  the  temptations  that  naturally  beset 
young  life.  The  rural  parents  will  not  of  course 
despair  about  the  boy  or  turn  against  him  should 
they  discover  that  he  has  secretly  become  confirmed 
in  the  use  of  tobacco.  There  are  still  possibilities  of 
his  development  into  a  substantial  character;  but 
because  of  his  smoking  the  problem  becomes  a  much 
more  involved  and  difficult  one. 

All  that  has  just  been  said  in  reference  to  tobacco 
may  be  emphasized  many  fold  in  respect  to  intoxi- 
cants. To  allow  a  growing  boy  to  begin  the  use  of 
intoxicating  drink  in  any  form  seems  to  be  wholly 
indefensible.  However,  if  there  are  open  saloons 
in  the  adjoining  town  or  city,  even  the  best  country 
boys  are  always  somewhat  in  danger  of  taking  the 
first  false  step.  Rural  parents  must  not  be  satisfied 
with  the  thought  that  their  boy  is  "too  good"  to 
take  up  such  a  thing ;  they  must  be  assured  that  he 
is  not  doing  so.  Now,  the  only  way  to  obtain  such 
assurance  is  by  means  of  keeping  in  intimate  touch 


A  Center  of  Social  Effort  207 

with  the  boy  and  his  movements  —  by  knowing  when 
and  where  he  goes,  why  he  goes  there,  and  whom  he 
meets  in  the  various  places  visited  on  his  rounds. 
Thus,  he  may  be  saved  from  a  life  of  debauch  and 
degradation,  and  that  by  means  of  providing  care- 
fully that  he  reach  his  full  maturity  of  mind  and 
body  without  any  knowledge  of  the  taste  of  intoxi- 
cating drinks. 

A   CENTER   OF   COMMUNITY   LIFE 

As  explained  in  a  number  of  preceding  chapters, 
there  are  being  carried  out  several  plans  for  bringing 
about  a  social  awakening  in  the  farm  districts.  Some 
of  these  are  succeeding  admirably,  especially  the 
county  Y.M.C.A.,  and  in  a  few  instances  the  rural 
church.  But  presumably  there  are  many  thousands 
of  country  districts  wherein  these  helpful  agencies 
will  not  be  found  for  many  years  to  come.  So,  in 
the  following  lines  there  will  be  an  attempt  to  fur- 
nish detailed  methods  and  suggestions  to  rural  par- 
ents who  are  under  the  necessity  of  assisting  their 
own  children  in  a  social  way.  The  discussion  thus 
far  has  been  of  a  somewhat  destructive  order.  Now, 
something  of  a  constructive  nature  will  be  offered. 

The  first  essential  in  the  awakening  of  a  clean  social 
life  for  the  young  is  a  center  of  effort.     If  there  be' 
no  church  or  clubhouse  of  any  kind  within  easy  access 
of  all,  then  the  farm  home  may  be  made  use  of  for 
this  service.     There  are  many  advantages  in  the 


208    Social  Training  for  Farm  Boys  and  Girls 

common  country  home  as  a  social  center  for  the 
young,  among  them  being  the  probable  presence  of 
some  sympathetic  parent  to  offer  guidance  and  to 
keep  down  unbecoming  conduct. 

Invite  the  young  to  the  house 

So,  if  country  parents  are  really  in  earnest  about 
doing  something  to  develop  their  own  children  in  a 
social  way,  let  them  throw  open  their  own  homes  for 
the  purpose.  In  a  certain  Iowa  home  this  thing  was 
done  in  an  admirable  manner.  Let  the  father  tell 
the  story  in  his  own  language  :  — 

"For  years  we  had  a  room  in  the  house  which  we 
called  the  'parlor.'  It  contained  some  expensive 
furniture  which  the  members  of  the  family  scarcely 
ever  saw,  as  the  place  was  usually  kept  closed  up  and 
dark.  Why  we  reserved  such  a  dark,  musty  room 
for  the  'special  company'  that  came  two  or  three 
times  each  year,  I  do  not  know.  At  any  rate,  we 
decided  to  make  the  place  useful.  In  remodeling  the 
house  we  enlarged  it  to  16  by  20  feet  in  size  and 
added  one  very  large  window. 

"Here  we  made  a  society  room  for  the  young  people 
of  the  neighborhood.  Extra  chairs  were  obtained, 
also  a  large  new  stove  and  fixtures  for  gaslights. 
There  were  also  some  simple  wall  decorations  and 
a  small  library  and  reading  table.  That  was  two 
years  ago.  Since  then  our  two  boys  and  two  girls 
have  given  many  parties  in  that  room  and  no  one 


Plate  XXIII. 


Conducting  an  Entertainment  209 

has  got  more  enjoyment  out  of  the  affairs  than  their 
parents.  We  feel  as  if  that  room  was  the  best  in- 
vestment we  ever  made." 

Not  nearly  all  anxious  parents  may  be  so  situated 
as  to  follow  the  excellent  plan  described  above,  but 
it  is  certainly  worthy  of  a  trial  by  all  who  can  avail 
themselves  of  its  benefits.  Best  of  all,  the  young 
people  in  whose  behalf  this  thoughtful  endeavor  is 
put  forth  will  most  certainly  grow  to  maturity  con- 
firmed in  the  belief  that  the  country  life  is  not  lack- 
ing in  its  social  enjoyments. 

HOW   TO   CONDUCT  A   SOCIAL   ENTERTAINMENT 

In  giving  a  social  entertainment  to  the  young 
people  of  the  country,  there  are  a  few  simple  yet 
common  matters  to  be  observed.  First  of  all,  there 
is  the  frequent  tendency  toward  reticence  or  back- 
wardness. It  will  be  remembered,  of  course,  that  the 
object  of  the  occasion  is  not  merely  passing  amuse- 
ment for  the  young,  but  also  that  of  furnishing  some 
means  of  character-development.  In  fact,  the  author 
wishes  that  every  chapter  of  this  book  be  thought  of 
as  contributing  something  toward  the  building  up  of 
young  lives.  So,  in  case  of  the  home  party,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  see  that  every  one  present  takes  some 
active  part.  The  bashful  youth  who  is  merely  per- 
mitted to  sit  by  and  look  on  will  go  home  secretly 
displeased,  if  not  much  pained,  at  his  own  backward- 
ness.    He  may  even  fail  to  appear  again  on  such  an 


210    Social  Training  for  Farm  Boys  and  Girls 

occasion,  and  thus  the  availability  of  a  most  helpful 
agency  be  permanently  lost  to  him. 

It  is  not  therefore  so  much  a  question  of  the  dig- 
nity and  importance  of  the  games  played  as  it  is  a 
question  of  the  active  engagement  of  every  one  pres- 
ent in  the  amusements.  Much  will  depend  on  lead- 
ership. An  able  leader  will  have  the  group  organized 
before  the  several  members  realize  what  is  being 
done.  An  expert  student  and  director  of  young 
people  was  seen  on  a  certain  occasion  to  take  charge 
of  a  party  of  forty  boys  and  girls  ranging  in  age  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  years.  These  were  quickly  placed 
standing  in  two  parallel  lines  of  twenty  each.  Each 
side  was  given  a  dish  of  unhulled  peanuts  and  asked 
to  engage  in  a  contest  of  passing  the  nuts  down  the 
line  one  at  a  time,  from  hand  to  hand,  the  one  at 
the  farther  end  of  the  line  placing  the  nuts  in  a 
receptacle.  This  simple  game  "broke  the  ice"  for 
the  entire  evening.  After  that  it  was  easy  to  keep 
the  entertainment  going. 

The  supervisor  of  the  social  affair  is  advised  to 
discourage  all  games  that  tend  to  an  over-amount  of 
silliness  and  that  allow  for  undue  familiarity  of  the 
sexes.  There  is,  however,  a  dignified  form  of  fun 
and  merriment  quite  as  enjoyable  as  the  baser  sort. 
And,  too,  the  leader  of  the  evening  need  not  be  re- 
minded of  the  many  little  opportunities  for  inculcat- 
ing wholesome  lessons  in  dignified  manners.  Many 
a  "green"  and  awkward  country  youth  is  started  on 


The  First  Sense  of  Dignity  211 

the  way  to  salvation  through  the  courteous  treat- 
ment he  receives  from  some  older  and  much  respected 
person.  Simply  to  treat  him  as  if  he  were  a  dignified 
young  gentleman  amounts  to  inciting  him  to  put 
forth  his  greatest  effort  to  make  a  show  of  manli- 
ness. A  close  student  of  young  nature  will  often 
observe  that  merely  to  address  such  a  youth  as 
"Mister"  So-and-So  causes  him  to  straighten  up 
and  try  to  look  the  part. 

The  hostess  and  guide  at  the  rural  party  of  young 
people  will  err  not  a  little  if  she  feels  under  the 
necessity  of  preparing  a  banquet  or  even  a  heavy 
luncheon  for  the  occasion.  Something  as  simple  as  a 
light  drink  and  a  wafer  or  two  will  be  quite  enough. 
The  object  of  the  refreshments  is  not  merely  to  feed 
the  young  people  to  the  point  of  stupefaction,  but 
rather  to  give  physical  tone  to  support  the  vivacity 

of  all. 

What  about  the  country  dance 

Unless  the  country  dance  can  be  radically  reformed, 
it  must  be  very  strongly  advised  against.  There  is 
something  about  this  occasion  as  usually  conducted 
which  seems  to  invite  coarse  characters  and  disrep- 
utable conduct.  The  country  dance  has  so  often 
been  the  scene  of  vice,  drunkenness,  and  other  such 
evils  as  to  have  received  a  permanent  stigma  of 
cheapness.  The  only  seeming  possibility  of  making  a 
success  of  it  is  by  the  method  of  inviting  a  very 
exclusive  set  to  attend,  and  this  thing  is  so  suggestive 


212    Social  Training  for  Farm  Boys  and  Girls 

of  aristocracy  and  snobbishness  as  to  cause  not  a 
little  ill  feeling  in  the  neighborhood.  Under  present 
conditions  the  country  dance  cannot  be  so  managed 
as  to  make  it  contribute  to  the  social  and  moral  uplift 
of  country  young  people.  There  are  many  better 
forms  of  entertainment  which  may  be  substituted 
for  it. 

Along  with  the  country  dance  should  be  rated  the 
cheap  professional  entertainments  that  are  so  often 
given  in  the  country  school  houses.  Many  of  these 
are  not  only  degrading  but  are  morally  evil  in  their 
suggestions,  while  they  tend  to  give  the  young  a 
depraved  taste  in  respect  to  public  shows  and 
theaters.  The  school  trustees  may  well  exclude  all 
such  "shows"  from  the  building. 

Additional  forms  of  entertainment 

The  farm  parents  most  desirous  of  leading  in  the 
young  people's  entertainments,  and  best  fitted  to  do 
so,  may  find  it  impracticable  to  invite  the  young  into 
their  home.  In  such  case,  there  are  several  other 
ways  whereby  the  desired  ends  may  be  achieved. 

1.  The  social  hour  at  the  religious  services.  —  It 
is  deemed  quite  advisable  that  those  who  plan  the 
religious  service  in  the  country  have  thought  of  a 
social  hour  in  connection  therewith.  The  latter 
may  prove  fully  as  helpful  in  a  constructive  sense  as 
the  former,  and  it  can  in  no  wise  detract  from  the 
value  of  the  religious  meeting.     This  combination 


Plate  XXIV. 


The  Literary  Society  Program  213 

of  events  is  already  being  successfully  tried  in  a 
number  of  places.  For  example,  at  the  mid-week 
evening  service,  there  is  given  first  an  hour  to  the 
prayer  meeting  or  the  discussion  of  the  religious  top- 
ics and  the  church  work.  After  that,  the  scene  is 
changed  into  one  of  clean,  wholesome  amusement 
with  the  special  thought  of  giving  the  young  people 
social  entertainment  and  training.  It  has  been 
found  that  this  very  method  of  uniting  the  religious 
and  social  service  under  a  carefully  planned  program 
sometimes  more  than  doubles  the  attendance.  Of 
course  the  first  essential  for  the  success  of  such  a 
meeting  is  that  an  able  leader  be  in  charge  of  it. 

2.  A  country  literary  society.  —  In  times  gone 
by  the  country  literary  society  has  played  a  mighty 
part  indirectly  in  the  building  of  the  nation.  Many 
a  statesman  or  leader  of  the  people  has  received  his 
first  aid  and  inspiration  at  the  little  old  country 
"literary  and  debating  society."  There  is  no  good 
reason  why  this  same  general  form  of  society  might 
not  continue  to  do  its  effective  work.  However,  in 
its  best  form,  there  will  be  some  additions  to  the  old 
procedure  of  merely  debating  the  important  public 
questions.  The  program  makers  may  well  have  in 
mind  the  ideal  of  bringing  out  every  form  of  talent 
latent  among  the  young  of  the  community.  It  is 
especially  advisable  that  every  young  attendant  be 
given  an  invitation  to  do  the  part  of  which  he  is  most 
capable,  and  that  he  be  urged  to  do  it.     It  is  quite 


214    Social  Training  for  Farm  Boys  and  Girls 

possible  to  arrange  a  program  upon  which  only  the 
ablest  and  most  capable  young  persons  of  the  neigh- 
borhood may  appear.  But  such  would  be  a  viola- 
tion of  the  best  purpose  of  the  society ;  namely,  not 
merely  to  provide  a  first-class  entertainment,  but  an 
entertainment  which  shall  bring  out  the  greatest  pos- 
sible variety  of  talent  and  awaken  interest  and  enthu- 
siasm on  the  part  of  every  member. 

Then,  let  the  motto  of  the  ideal  country  literary 
society  be,  "Something  worth  while  for  every  mem- 
ber to  do."  The  old-fashioned  country  society,  like 
the  older  public  school,  was  too  narrow.  It  touched 
life  and  awakened  interests  in  only  a  few  places.  The 
old  school  tested  a  boy  in  the  three  R's  and  geography. 
If  he  did  well  in  these,  he  was  "smart."  If  he  failed 
in  the  traditional  subjects,  he  was  branded  as  a 
dullard  and  crowded  out  of  the  school,  although  in 
respect  to  some  other  untested  activities  he  may  have 
been  a  slumbering  genius.  So  with  the  primitive 
"literary  and  debating  society";  debating  and 
"speaking  pieces"  were  practically  the  only  numbers 
on  the  program  and  usually  only  the  ablest  were 
allowed  to  appear.  Ordinary  talent  in  debating 
and  reciting  and  all  manner  of  promising  talent  in 
other  lines  was  allowed  to  slumber  on  in  the  lives  of 
many  of  the  young  people  in  attendance.  Now,  it 
is  practically  a  certainty  that  every  member  of  the 
young  literary  society  can  perform  a  part  very  ac- 
ceptably, provided  the  discerning  leader  know  what 


Social  Improvement  not  Neglected  215 

that  part  is.  And  best  of  all,  the  bringing  out  of  such 
talent  means  the  awakening  of  many  other  splendid 
interests  among  the  youthful  members  of  the  com- 
munity, and  finally  the  development  of  moral  cour- 
age and  other  forms  of  manliness  and  womanliness. 

Now,  to  come  to  the  point  of  a  social  result,  the 
so-called  literary  entertainment  can  easily  be  made 
up  in  two  parts,  the  literary  and  the  social ;  and  there 
should  be  set  apart  an  hour  for  the  latter. 

3.  The  social  side  of  the  economic  clubs.  —  In 
many  instances,  there  will  be  organized  boys'  corn- 
raising  or  crop-improvement  clubs,  and  with  them 
country  clubs  of  the  girls  interested  in  household 
economy.  These  club  meetings  may  be  made  the 
occasion  of  not  a  little  social  improvement.  The 
boys  and  girls  may  meet  at  the  same  hour  and  place, 
and  after  the  business  has  been  disposed  of  there 
may  be  a  coming  together  in  a  social  way.  Such 
arrangement  is  highly  advisable  for  two  reasons. 
First,  it  will  certainly  increase  the  membership  of 
the  clubs;  and,  second,  the  social  instincts  of  the 
young  people  may  be  suitably  indulged. 

Some  concluding  suggestions 

The  leader  interested  in  the  foregoing  plans  may 
again  be  reminded  of  the  necessity  of  instituting  a 
social  organization  of  such  a  nature  as  to  touch  all 
the  young  lives  in  the  neighborhood.  The  rules 
and  regulations  governing  the  society  should  there- 


216    Social  Training  for  Farm  Boys  and  Girls 

fore  be  drawn  on  broad  and  liberal  lines,  not  forget- 
ting the  great  possibilities  of  awakening  slumbering 
interests  and  aptitudes,  and  of  building  up  a  social 
community  that  will  draw  young  people  to  it. 

If  one  will  take  the  time  to  drive  for  a  hundred 
miles  in  a  direct  line  through  the  farm  districts,  as  the 
author  has  done,  he  will  be  not  a  little  surprised  at  the 
striking  contrast  in  the  social  conditions  of  the  various 
neighborhoods  passed  through.  In  one  instance  he 
will  be  told  that  there  is  absolutely  nothing  present 
to  invite  the  young  —  a  dull,  dead  place  with  per- 
haps many  run-down  farms  and  farm  homes  to  keep 
it  company.  He  will  learn  that  the  young  people 
of  such  a  community  are  running  off  to  some  neigh- 
boring town  where  many  of  them  find  a  cheap  and 
degrading  class  of  entertainment.  But  the  next 
adjoining  neighborhood  may  present  a  converse  sit- 
uation. One  will  be  told  that  the  young  people 
are  happy  and  contented  there,  that  they  have  fre- 
quent meetings  of  their  social  clubs  and  other  forms 
of  organization;  most  probably  the  appearance  of 
the  neighborhood  will  be  likewise  much  better  than 
that  of  the  other  one  mentioned.  Attractive  homes, 
well-kept  roads  and  hedges,  and  other  evidences  of 
prosperity  will  meet  one's  view. 

In  one  district  visited,  the  author  found  that  this 
better  situation  had  an  interesting  history  and  that 
it  was  nearly  all  traceable  to  a  quarter  of  a  century 
of  public-spiritedness  of  one  man.     This  resident  had 


The  Biggest  Crop  of  All  217 

settled  upon  a  quarter  section  of  good  land.  While 
he  was  reconstructing  his  own  home  and  its  sur- 
roundings into  a  place  of  attractiveness,  he  was 
continually  engaged  in  awakening  the  entire  neigh- 
borhood in  behalf  of  better  things.  He  had  led  out 
in  establishing  a  well-attended  Sunday  school  in  the 
district,  had  been  instrumental  in  instituting  regu- 
lar preaching  service  there  twice  each  month,  had 
led  the  entire  neighborhood  out  on  more  than  one 
occasion  for  a  day's  work  in  improving  and  beauti- 
fying the  school  grounds,  had  been  the  organizer  and 
director  of  the  country  literary  society,  and  of  more 
than  one  club  of  farmers  and  their  wives.  During 
all  this  time  he  was  correspondent  for  one  or  two 
county  papers  and  used  every  occasion  for  advertis- 
ing the  home  community.  All  together,  it  was  a 
most  commendable  and  far-reaching  service  which 
this  one  man  performed  for  his  own  neighborhood. 
So,  it  may  be  said  that  wherever  there  is  one  inspired 
leader  in  a  country  community,  there  is  life. 

Finally,  it  may  be  urged  that  the  biggest  thing  in 
the  rural  community  is  not  the  big  crop  of  corn  or 
wheat  or  the  excellent  breeds  of  live  stock.  Impor- 
tant as  these  things  are,  the  great  concern  of  the 
community  should  be  the  development  of  sterling 
character  in  the  lives  of  the  growing  boys  and  girls 
and  the  cleanness  and  integrity  of  the  personalities 
of  every  one  within  the  neighborhood  limits.  To 
that  end  let  this  social  center  ideal  be  actualized, 


218    Social  Training  for  Farm  Boys  and  Girls 

becoming  a  place  toward  which  the  thoughts  of  all 
will  go  frequently  and  fondly  during  the  hours  of 
care  and  toil.  Let  it  be  made  a  place  the  thought  of 
which  will  forever  impart  a  full  measure  of  good 
cheer,  of  contentment,  and  of  honest  courage  to  the 
mind  of  every  member  of  the  society  thereabout. 
Let  it  be  a  place  so  ordered  and  arranged  that  things 
sacred  and  divine  may  reach  down  to  the  things 
often  thought  of  as  very  commonplace  and  mean, 
and  exalt  the  latter  to  their  true  and  proper  place. 
Lastly,  let  it  be  earnestly  desired  and  planned  for 
that  every  heart  in  the  rural  district  shall  be  rekindled 
with  a  living  fire  of  enthusiasm  in  behalf  of  the  general 
improvement  —  of  interest  in  the  things  that  are 
high  and  divine,  and  of  affection  and  good  will  toward 
all  in  the  community.  Let  some  local  resident  rise 
up  as  leader  and  bring  this  order  of  things  to  pass,  and 
the  social  experiences  of  the  young  people  will  natu- 
rally become  of  such  a  nature  as  to  develop  them  into 
men  and  women  of  great  worth  and  efficiency. 

REFERENCES 

Wider  Use  of  the  School  Plant.  Clarence  Arthur  Perry.  Chapter  IX, 
"Social  Centers."     Charities  Publication  Committee,  N.Y. 

Chapters  on  Rural  Progress.  Kenyon  L.  Butterfield.  Chapter  XIV, 
"The  Social  Side  of  the  Farm  Question."  University  of  Chicago 
Press. 

Development  and  Education.  M.  V.  O'Shea.  Chapter  XIV,  "Prob- 
lems of  Training."     Houghton,  Mifflin  Company. 

Social  Control.  Edward  A.  Ross,  Ph.D.  Chapters  VII  and  VIII,  "The 
Need  and  Direction  of  Social  Control."     Macmillan. 


Reference  List  219 

The  Girl   Wanted.    Nixon    Waterman.     Forbes  &   Co.,   Chicago.    A 

wholesome  and  cheering  book  for  girls. 
Confidences.     Edith  B.  F.  Lowry,  M.D.    Forbes  &  Co.    Plain,  helpful 

talks  regarding  the  sex  life  of  girls. 
See  the  excellent  editorial  article,  "Forces  that  Move  Upward,"  Farmer's 

Voice,  June  15,  1911. 
Causes   of   Delinquency   Among   Girls.    Falconer.    Annals   American 

Academy.     Vol.  36,  p.  77. 
Democracy    and    Education.      Dr.    J.  B.    Storms.      Annual    Volume 

N.E.A.,  1907,  p.  62. 
The  Efficient  Life.     Dr.  L.  H.  Gulick.     Chapter  III,  "  Life  That  is  Worth 

While."    Doubleday,  Page  Company. 
The  Ideals  of  a  Country  Boy.     A.  D.  Hollawayin  Rural  Manhood,  May, 

1910. 
Why  Not  Education  on  the  Sex  Question.    Editorial  article.     Review 

of  Reviews,  January,  1910. 
Report  of  Vice  Commission  of  Chicago.     Chapter  V,  "Child  Protection 

and  Education."     Guntorf- Warren  Printing  Co.,  Chicago. 
The  Spirit  of  Democracy.     Charles  Fletcher  Dole.     Chapter  XXIX, 

"The  Education  for  a  Democracy."     Crowell  &  Co. 
The  Education   of   the   Boy  of  To-morrow.    A.   D.   Dean.     World's 

Work,  April,  1911.     Prize  essay. 
College  and  the  Rural  Districts.     W.  N.  Stearns.     Education,  April,  1911. 
The  Boy  Problem.     Educational  pamphlet  No.  4.     Society  for  Sanitary 

and  Moral  Prophylaxis,  N.Y.     10  cents.     Treats  ably  the  question 

of  social  purity. 
Genesis.    A  Manual  for  Instruction  of  Children  in  Matters  of  Sex.     B.  S. 

Talmey,  M.D.    Practitioners'  Publishing  Company,  N.Y. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  FARM  BOY'S  INTEREST  IN  THE 
BUSINESS 

The  theory  that  the  boys  and  girls  who  grow  up  in 
the  country  must  in  time  become  settled  in  farm 
homes  of  their  own  has  neither  logic  nor  psychology 
nor  common  sense  to  support  it.  It  is  never  a  ques- 
tion of  whether  or  not  a  boy  will  take  up  the  work  of 
his  father,  but  whether  or  not  he  will  find  at  length 
the  true  and  only  calling  for  which  his  nature  is  best 
fitted.  If  the  parents  of  the  country  boy  will  keep 
the  latter  question  clearly  in  mind,  many  a  problem 
in  the  latter's  rearing  will  be  made  much  easier. 

In  order  to  break  the  monotony  of  the  style  of 
expression,  much  of  this  chapter  will  be  addressed 
somewhat  directly  to  the  father  of  the  country  boy. 

What  is  in  your  boy? 

If  a  man  should  come  suddenly  into  possession  of  a 
piece  of  land  having  a  productive  soil,  one  of  his  first 
questions  in  regard  to  the  soil  would  be,  What  will  it 
best  grow  ?  Farmers  blundered  and  starved  along 
for  generations  in  an  attempt  to  make  a  first-class 
farm  produce  the  wrong  crops,  or  to  produce  the  right 
crop  through  the  wrong  manner  of  treatment;   and 

220 


Finding  the  Native  Interest  221 

this  simply  because  they  used  methods  of  tradition 
and  guess  rather  than  those  of  science. 

Now  apply  the  foregoing  situation  to  the  boy  prob- 
lem, if  you  will.  So  long  as  we  attempt  to  secure 
from  him  the  wrong  results  and  deal  with  him  by 
wrong  methods,  we  are  likely  to  conclude  that  there 
is  "nothing  in  him."  Therefore,  in  order  to  act 
intelligently  and  helpfully  in  the  matter  of  giving  the 
young  son  a  business  relation  to  farm  life,  it  is  first 
necessary  to  determine,  as  far  as  may  be  possible, 
the  bent  of  his  mind,  remembering  that  the  great 
artist,  the  great  writer,  or  the  great  captain  of  indus- 
try is  just  as  likely  to  be  born  in  the  country  home  as 
elsewhere.  In  fact,  we  shall  learn  in  time,  much  to 
our  advantage,  that  there  must  be  a  careful  sifting 
process  which  will  result  in  sending  some  of  the 
country-bred  young  men  directly  to  their  important 
places  in  the  city,  and  some  of  the  city-bred  youths 
to  the  rural  industries. 

Much  experimentation  necessary 

The  one  who  undertakes  to  develop  a  boy's  inter- 
est in  business  affairs  has  really  before  him  a  problem 
in  experimental  psychology.  Many  of  the  youth's 
best  aptitudes  are  necessarily  still  slumbering  and 
unknown  to  either  himself  or  others.  The  funda- 
mental steps  preparatory  for  a  successful  com- 
mercial venture  on  the  part  of  a  young  man  are  com- 
paratively few  but  none  of  them  can  safely  be 
omitted.     They  are  as  follows :  — 


222     The  Farm  Boy's  Interest  in  the  Business 

1.  Willingness  to  work.  — In  this  connection,  per- 
haps something  will  be  recalled  from  Chapter  IX. 
We  may  at  least  be  reminded  of  the  difference  in  the 
attitude  of  mind  of  the  boy  who  regards  labor  as  a 
painful  necessity  and  the  one  who  enjoys  a  willing- 
ness to  work.  So  long  as  the  youth  feels  as  if  he 
were  driven  to  his  tasks  there  is  little  hope  of  arous- 
ing his  interest  in  the  business  side  of  it.  His  mind 
will  continue  too  much  on  the  problem  of  avoiding 
work  and  on  ways  and  means  by  which  to  get  some- 
thing for  nothing. 

There  is  probably  a  period  of  dishonesty  in  the  life 
of  every  normal  youth.  Following  the  dawn  of 
adolescence  there  is  a  great  wave  of  new  interest  and 
new  meaning  coming  to  him  out  of  the  business  and 
social  world.  The  world  is  so  full  of  interesting 
enticements.  Everything  looks  to  be  good  and 
within  easy  reach.  He  is  especially  prone  to  accept 
material  things  at  their  advertised  value.  He  spends 
his  dimes  for  prize  boxes  thought  to  contain  gold  rings 
and  other  such  finery.  His  quarters  and  half  dollars 
frequently  go  in  payment  for  the  "valuable"  things 
offered  "free  for  the  price  of  the  transportation," 
the  purpose  of  this  tempting  gift  being  "simply  for 
the  sake  of  introducing  the  goods." 

But  it  is  well  to  see  the  boy  safe  through  this  period 
of  allurement.  So  long  as  the  world  seems  to  hold 
out  so  many  highly  valued  things  which  may  be  had 
for  a  trifle  the  youth  will  see  little  need  of  his  work- 


Some  Beginnings  of  Business  223 

ing  to  obtain  them.  So,  attend  him  in  his  efforts 
to  get  something  for  nothing.  Permit  him  to  be 
stung  a  few  times  and  thus  teach  him  how  and  where 
to  look  for  the  sting.  Finally,  impress  him  with  the 
thought  that  every  material  thing  worth  while  repre- 
sents the  price  of  somebody's  honest  labor.  At  length 
he  will  see  the  reasonableness  of  industry  and  settle 
down  with  a  purpose  of  making  his  way  through  life 
by  means  of  honest  endeavor.  You  now  have  the 
youth  so  far  on  his  way  to  successful  business  under- 
taking. 

2.  Ability  to  save.  —  All  healthy  boys  are  naturally 
inclined  to  be  spendthrifts.  Saving  a  part  of  one's 
means  is  a  fine  art  acquired  only  through  judicious 
practice.  It  is  assumed  that  the  young  son  is  being 
reasonably  paid  for  certain  required  tasks.  So  the 
next  duty  is  to  see  that  he  saves  a  part  of  his  earn- 
ings. For  the  purpose  of  this  training  in  saving,  a 
toy  bank  may  be  procured ;  or  he  may  be  directed  in 
depositing  a  small  weekly  sum  in  a  penny  savings 
bank.  Still  another  way  is  to  teach  him  to  keep  a 
book  account  of  his  earnings,  giving  him  due-bills 
for  the  amounts  withheld  from  his  wages. 

There  is  one  small  business  practice,  the  impor- 
tance of  which  for  the  boy  is  too  frequently  overlooked; 
that  is,  the  practice  of  carrying  a  small  amount  of 
change  in  his  pocket.  He  must  learn  to  use  his 
money  thoughtfully  and  not  merely  on  every  occa- 
sion of  his  being  allowed  to  have  it.     He  must  acquire 


224     The  Farm  Boy's  Interest  in  the  Business 

the  habit  of  self-restraint  in  the  use  of  money.  To  do 
this  is  to  learn  to  spend  judiciously.  To  have  reached 
this  stage  of  financial  training  is  a  sufficient  guarantee 
that  the  youth  is  proceeding  well  on  his  way  toward 
success  in  business  enterprise. 

Start  on  a  small  scale 

Then,  give  your  growing  son  as  wide  a  variety  of 
experience  in  work  and  in  watching  business  affairs 
as  the  situation  will  permit  of.  During  the  process  of 
this  mental  growth  help  him  to  make  a  small  invest- 
ment in  something  that  will  grow  and  increase  under 
his  intelligent  care.  Let  us  assume  that  your  spe- 
cialty is  a  certain  strain  of  corn  or  a  certain  breed 
of  cattle.  If  the  boy  shows  an  interest  in  this  mat- 
ter, start  him  in  at  an  early  age,  say  ten  to  fourteen, 
on  his  own  account.  Give  him  in  exchange  for  his 
work  a  small  plot  of  ground  on  which  to  grow  corn, 
perhaps  with  a  view  to  his  later  entering  the  boys' 
contest  for  a  prize.  Or,  help  him  to  get  a  small 
beginning  in  the  cattle  business. 

But  in  case  the  lad  shows  no  interest  in  your  busi- 
ness, do  not  let  the  matter  seriously  trouble  you  for  a 
moment.  Simply  continue  to  give  him  his  general 
education,  including  the  best  school  course  available 
and  a  training  in  the  performance  of  work  as  well  as 
the  judicious  use  of  the  spending  money  that  may 
come  into  his  hands.  Careful  study  of  the  boy  may 
indicate  to  you  that  his  aptitude  for  business  runs  in 


Parental  Tact  and  Foresight  225 

the  direction  of  something  to  which  you  are  giving 
little  or  no  attention  but  to  which  you  may  in  time 
bring  him. 

There  is  the  case  of  a  successful  wheat  raiser  who 
discovered  his  son's  fondness  for  thoroughbred  cattle. 
So  the  boy  was  carefully  started  on  a  small  scale  in 
the  business  of  raising  short-horns.  To-day  that 
son  is  known  far  and  wide  as  an  able  specialist  in  this 
line  of  stock  breeding.  Now,  if  the  father  in  this 
case  had  done  as  thousands  of  other  farmers  are  still 
doing ;  namely,  if  he  had  attempted  to  force  the  boy, 
against  the  latter's  natural  inclination,  to  take  up 
wheat  raising  or  any  other  undesirable  business, 
then,  the  son  would  have  most  probably  skipped  off 
for  the  city  and  secured  a  fourth-rate  place  for  the 
mere  wages  it  would  bring.  Some  day  this  tragic, 
oft-repeated  story  of  mismanagement  and  misdi- 
rection of  the  growing  boy  will  come  out  in  all  its 
distressing  details. 

Give  your  son  a  square  deal 

Deal  with  your  young  son  on  business  principles 
from  the  beginning.  Do  not  hastily  and  unwisely 
give  him  a  piece  of  property  that  will  have  to  be 
taken  from  him  in  the  future  because  of  its  having 
grown  into  a  disproportionate  value.  This  old  form 
of  mistreatment  of  the  country  boy  has  been  the  means 
of  thwarting  the  business  integrity  of  many  a  prom- 
ising youth. 


226     The  Farm  Boy's  Interest  in  the  Business 

If  the  boy's  small  beginning  develops  under  his 
care  into  a  business  of  large  proportions,  the  only 
check  or  hindrance  that  the  ethics  of  the  case  will 
allow  is  that  you  treat  with  him  on  fair  business  terms, 
just  as  you  would  with  any  good  business  man. 
You  may  cause  him  to  bear  all  his  own  personal  ex- 
penses and  all  the  expense  connected  with  the  care 
and  development  of  his  live  stock  or  crop.  Then  the 
matter  of  curtailing  him  must  stop.  And  if  the  son 
soon  becomes  able  to  buy  you  out,  it  is  certainly  an 
affair  to  be  proud  of,  not  a  thing  to  hinder  by  unfair 
means. 

Keep  the  boy's  perfect  good  will 

It  is  a  serious  matter  to  lose  the  boy's  confidence 
or  in  any  way  break  faith  with  him,  even  though 
there  be  nothing  about  the  place  in  which  you  can 
make  him  take  a  business  interest.  As  he  grows  to 
maturity  his  own  inner  nature  must  gradually  guide 
him  into  the  way  of  a  calling  —  and  a  divine  calling 
at  that  it  may  prove  to  be.  It  may  not  seem  out 
of  place  to  quote  the  words  of  a  religious  teacher  who 
says:  "Do  you  not  know  that  if  one's  inner  nature 
points  out  clearly  and  inspiringly  what  he  should 
undertake  for  a  life  work,  such  thing  may  be  regarded 
as  the  Voice  of  the  Divine  One  speaking  faithfully 
through  the  instrumentality  of  one  of  his  own  crea- 
tures?" 

So  it  may  prove  at  length  that  you  will  have  to  sell 


Give  Genius  an  Opportunity  227 

a  load  of  corn  in  order  to  set  up  in  the  garret  of  your 
house  a  miniature  art  studio  of  some  kind  for  your 
young  son.  Or,  perhaps  you  may  have  to  establish  a 
small  machine  shop  as  an  adjunct  to  the  barn  or  wood 
shed,  wherein  the  budding  genius  may  blossom  into 
that  beauty  of  manly  power  and  efficiency  which  all 
the  world  is  glad  to  admire.  Out  of  just  such  a  wise 
indulgence  as  that  last  named  a  certain  Kansas  boy 
finally  became  enabled  to  revolutionize  the  old  farm 
home  and  the  work  done  there  through  the  installa- 
tion of  an  excellent  motor  power  plant.  Electric 
light  for  the  house  and  barn,  power  for  operating 
feed  grinder,  washing  machine,  grindstone,  fanning 
mill,  and  many  other  such  machines  —  all  this  has 
resulted  from  the  rightly  directed  work  of  a  youth 
who  could  have  easily  been  driven  to  the  city  into 
some  treadmill  of  mere  wage  earning. 

But,  occasionally  the  boy  will  prove  himself  a 
versatile  character,  succeeding  in  a  measure  in  every 
line  of  small  business  to  which  you  introduce  him, 
yet  showing  a  marked  success  in  none.  In  such  case 
the  advisable  thing  to  do  is  to  continue  his  general 
education  for  a  longer  period  than  is  necessary  for 
the  boy  who  shows  an  early  inclination  toward  a 
given  line  of  work. 

Some  will  be  retained  on  the  farm 

It  is  admittedly  desirable,  all  things  fairly  con- 
sidered, that  many  of  the  very  best  boys  remain  on 


228     The  Farm  Boy's  Interest  in  the  Business 

the  farm  and  help  develop  rural  life  into  what  it 
should  be.  Hence  the  necessity  of  finding  a  way  to 
interest  such  boys  in  some  of  the  many  business 
affairs  connected  with  the  farm  home.  Perhaps  there 
is  no  better  way  to  develop  the  lad's  interest  in  the 
affairs  of  the  place  than  that  of  allowing  him  to 
participate  in  the  practical  business  transactions  as 
the  conditions  may  allow.  Let  the  parents  take  him 
to  the  store,  the  bank,  and  other  such  places  for  the 
benefit  of  his  experience.  Send  him  in  with  the 
produce  with  authority  to  sell  and  to  invest  a  part 
of  the  proceeds  in  whatever  the  family  may  need. 
The  father  should  have  the  boy  with  him  when  se- 
lecting and  buying  machinery  or  live  stock  at  public 
sales.  Send  him  to  the  bank  with  checks  or  drafts 
to  be  deposited  or  collected.  Give  him  an  oppor- 
tunity to  keep  the  family  accounts,  or  at  least  to 
keep  his  own  recorded  in  a  book. 

The  ordinary  farmer  can  think  of  more  ways  than 
the  foregoing  whereby  to  give  his  growing  son  the 
needed  experience  in  money  matters.  The  best  re- 
sult of  such  practice  is  that  if  there  be  anything  in 
connection  with  the  affairs  of  the  farm  in  which  the 
boy  will  have  a  native  interest  this  aptitude  will  be 
discovered ;  and  it  can  then  be  made  the  basis  of  the 
young  man's  introduction  into  a  successful  participa- 
tion in  some  practical  business.  The  boy's  perma- 
nent calling  is  seriously  involved  in  this  discussion. 
On  page  279  of  this  book  will  be  found  a  description 
of  three  methods  of  vocational  training. 


A  School  at  the  County  Fair  229 

The  awakening  often  comes  from  without 

Parents  who  find  it  difficult  to  arouse  the  farm 
boy's  interest  in  any  part  of  the  home  business  may 
sometimes  easily  secure  the  desired  result  by  send- 
ing the  youth  away  on  a  trip  to  the  county  fair  or 
other  such  place.  As  a  means  of  stimulating  boys 
in  respect  to  some  kind  of  productive  home  industry 
the  Oklahoma  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College 
instituted  a  school  of  agriculture  for  country  youths 
at  the  state  fair.  Each  organized  farmers'  institute 
and  each  county  superintendent  was  asked  to  send 
one  boy.  A  large  tent  was  furnished  by  the  college. 
This  served  for  a  lecture  and  display  room  during 
the  day  and  a  boys'  sleeping  room  during  the  night. 

At  the  first  session  122  boys  attended,  coming 
from  57  counties.  The  lectures  covered  such  sub- 
jects as  farm  crops,  veterinary  science,  track  and  field 
athletics.  The  displays  at  the  fair  were  used  for 
illustrative  matter.  So  far  the  results  of  the  school 
have  been  reported  most  favorable.  An  increasing 
number  of  boys  throughout  the  state  are  making 
preparation  for  it. 

An  awakening  in  the  south 

It  is  most  encouraging  to  observe  the  changing 
ideals  of  business  and  industry  now  in  progress 
throughout  the  nation.  The  many  vocational- 
training  schools  and  the  increasing  attendance  at  the 


230     The  Farm  Boy's  Interest  in  the  Business 

mechanical  and  industrial  colleges  bear  witness  of 
this  fact.  The  American  Negro,  ever  a  faithful 
laborer,  is  now  being  taught  in  such  institutions  as 
Tuskegee  and  Hampton,  not  only  to  perform  some 
honest  work  well  but  also  to  plan  and  prepare  for  a 
business  of  his  own. 

The  son  of  the  southern  planter  is  becoming  more 
and  more  imbued  with  the  new  spirit  of  efficiency 
through  personal  industry.  On  this  matter  a  mem- 
ber of  the  faculty  of  the  Louisiana  Agricultural  and 
Mechanical  College  says :  "It  is  a  mistake  to  think 
that  the  best  of  the  country  youth  of  the  south  are 
continuing  in  the  old-fashioned  ideal  of  becoming 
mere  gentlemen  of  culture  and  leisure.  In  1910  there 
were  nearly  50,000  boys  living  in  a  dozen  of  the 
southern  states,  who  astonished  the  entire  country 
with  their  achievements  in  corn-raising.  They 
ranged  in  age  from  fifteen  to  eighteen  years.  At  the 
national  exhibit  held  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  one  hundred 
of  them  showed  an  average  yield  of  134  bushels  of 
corn  to  the  acre.  This  corn-growing  practice  is  under 
the  direction  of  the  national  government,  and  is  more 
than  a  big,  exciting  contest,  it  is  a  splendid  course  in 
rural  home  education. 

"We  have  at  this  college  hundreds  of  young  men 
from  the  plantations  and  they  are  intensely  interested 
in  working  out  the  industrial  problems  that  pertain 
to  their  own  home  affairs.  I  have  been  surprised  at 
their  eagerness  to  get  into  the  soil  and  to  do  the  me- 


Plate  XXV. 


7^    •   ***> 


'^^jf^ 


An  Example  of  Partnership  231 

chanical  work  connected  with  their  studies.  All  over 
the  south  there  seems  to  be  an  awakening  among  the 
boys  and  young  men,  of  an  interest  in  the  industrial 
and  commercial  problems  of  the  plantation." 

The  farm  papers  and  the  educational  magazines  in 
the  southern  states  give  much  evidence  of  this  same 
sort  of  awakening.  The  farmers'  and  planters' 
organizations,  the  local  improvement  and  school 
betterment  clubs,  and  many  other  movements,  are 
giving  both  incentive  and  direction  to  the  country 
youths  who  are  at  all  inclined  to  find  an  interest  in 
the  home  affairs.  The  rural  parents  who  desire  out- 
side aid  in  arousing  their  boys'  interest  in  the  home 
business  may  well  seek  such  assistance  by  bringing 
the  latter  into  closer  touch  with  one  of  these  progres- 
sive organizations. 

Partnership  between  father  and  son 

After  the  farmer's  son  has  fully  settled  upon  his 
father's  business  as  an  ideal  one  for  himself,  there 
may  be  brought  to  the  latter  a  gradual  relief  from 
the  worry  of  details,  and  that  through  a  partner- 
ship management.  A.  G.  Hulting,  Jr.,  of  Gen- 
eseo,  Illinois,  thus  describes  such  a  plan  of  coop- 
eration in  a  letter  to  Arthur  J.  Bill,  the  agricultural 
writer :  — 

"We  have  160  acres  of  land  in  the  farm.  My 
father  owns  the  land.  I  do  the  work,  provide  all  the 
labor,  horses,  and  machinery,  and  we  have  an  equal 


232     The  Farm  Boy's  Interest  in  the  Business 

interest  in  the  live  stock  and  we  share  equally  in  the 
net  returns." 

Other  terms  of  cooperation  have  proved  successful. 
In  many  cases,  the  son  rents  all  or  a  part  of  the  place 
on  terms  similar  to  those  allowed  the  outside  renter ; 
excepting  that  he  is  usually  given  the  advantages  of 
free  board  and  the  use  of  the  home  conveniences. 
In  all  such  business  transactions  between  father  and 
son  it  is  highly  advisable  that  the  contract  be  carefully 
drawn  in  writing.  The  verbal  contract  is  proverbially 
a  trouble  maker,  and  that  even  among  relatives. 

Summary  and  concluding  suggestions 

1.  Not  nearly  all  promising  youths  can  be  encour- 
aged to  take  a  vital  interest  in  the  father's  business. 

2.  In  case  the  boy  cannot  be  induced  to  take  a 
permanent  interest  in  anything  on  the  home  farm, 
he  may  at  least  have  much  practice  in  the  transaction 
of  the  small  business  connected  therewith. 

3.  The  ability  to  work  willingly,  the  ideal  that  an 
honest  living  is  to  be  earned  through  personal  effort, 
and  the  practice  of  saving  a  part  of  the  weekly  or 
monthly  earnings  —  these  will  give  any  boy  an  ex- 
cellent start  on  the  road  to  success  and  affluence. 

4.  Deal  with  the  young  son  on  business  principles 
from  the  first,  seeing  that  he  shares  reasonably  in 
the  losses  as  well  as  in  the  gains.  Although  his 
interest  in  any  chosen  line  of  work  may  not  be- 
come vital   till  he  makes   some  money  out  of  it, 


A  Summary  of  Suggestions  233 

hold  him  persistently  in  line  during  the  "lean" 
years  and  thus  allow  him  to  learn  the  excellent 
lessons  of  failure. 

5.  It  may  prove  unfair  to  the  members  of  the 
family  to  permit  one  of  the  sons  to  secure  control  of 
the  business  of  the  home  farm.  Some  pathetic  in- 
stances of  this  kind  have  really  occurred.  For  the 
sake  of  the  peace  and  well-being  of  all,  such  an  occur- 
rence must  be  prevented  by  careful  forethought. 

6.  On  the  other  hand,  in  case  where  the  boy  has 
started  with  a  scrawny  pig  or  through  renting  a  piece 
of  the  home  place,  and,  after  dealing  fair  and  square 
with  all,  has  come  into  possession  of  considerable 
property  of  his  own,  do  not  wrest  it  from  him  or  in 
any  way  take  advantage  of  his  minority.  Such  a 
youth  will  in  time  most  probably  reflect  high  credit 
upon  the  family. 

7.  Finally,  the  farm  parent  needs  to  be  warned 
against  the  possibility  of  developing  his  son  into  a 
mere  money-maker.  Such  is  a  poor  standard  of 
success.  The  man  whose  only  aim  in  life  is  merely  to 
prosper  financially  is  a  poor  citizen  of  any  commu- 
nity. Teach  the  boy  to  succeed  in  his  business  ven- 
tures, but  at  the  same  time  imbue  him  with  the 
thought  that  his  money  wealth  must  be  regarded  as 
so  much  opportunity  to  help  build  up  the  commu- 
nity, the  state,  and  the  nation.  Teach  him  that  finan- 
cial success  is  worthy  of  the  name  only  when  it  is 
linked  with  social  efficiency. 


234     The  Farm  Boy's  Interest  in  the  Business 


REFERENCES 

Agaiii  we  find  the  field  of  literature  treating  the  subject  directly  an 
exceedingly  scant  one.  In  forming  a  business  partnership  with  his  son 
the  farmer  should  be  guided  by  well-tried  precedent.  A  letter  of  specific 
inquiry  to  one  of  the  leading  agricultural  papers  will  most  usually  bring  a 
helpful  reply. 
A  First  Lesson  in  Thrift.     Horace  Ellis.     Psychological  Clinic.    March 

15,  1910. 
Industrial  Education  for  Rural  Communities.    Annual  Volume  N.E.A., 

1907,  p.  412. 
The  Child's  Sense  of  the  Value  of  Money.    Dr.  William  E.  Ashcroft. 

S.S.  Times,  July  24,  1909. 
Psychology  and  Higher  Life.     William  A.  McKeever.     Chapter  XIV, 

"The  Psychology  of  Work."     A.  Flanagan  Company,  Chicago. 
Industrial  Education.     Various  Authors.     (Pamphlet,  25  cents.)     The 

Survey,  N.Y. 
Industrial  Education.    Kimball.     No.  1,  Educational  Monograph  Series, 
School  of  Education,  Cornell  University. 


CHAPTER  XV 

BUSINESS    TRAINING  FOR   THE  COUNTRY 
GIRL 

During  a  two-hour  ride  on  a  railway  train  the 
author  had  as  a  seat  companion  a  sixty-year-old 
farmer  and  stock  raiser,  whose  specialty  was  that  of 
raising  mules  for  the  market.  And  what  of  definite 
information  this  good  husbandman  possessed  about 
the  long-eared  beast  of  burden  would  fill  a  volume  of 
considerable  size.  He  knew  just  what  time  of  year 
the  mule  should  be  foaled,  when  weaned,  when  broken 
to  the  halter  and  to  work ;  how  to  feed  and  groom  a 
mule  in  order  to  get  the  best  physical  growth ;  how 
to  train  the  animal  so  as  to  develop  all  the  latent  good 
qualities  and  repress  the  bad  ones. 

After  the  natural  life  history  of  the  faithful  mule 
had  been  carefully  reviewed  by  the  rural  companion 
the  conversation  was  turned  to  the  subject  of  girls. 
Had  he  a  daughter?  "Yes,  twenty-two  years  old." 
What  did  she  know  about  money  and  the  common 
affairs  of  business  ?  "Business  !  Mighty  little  any 
woman  knows  about  business,"  said  he.  "  We  buy  our 
girl  what  she  needs  and  have  put  her  through  the 
town  high  school.     I  expect  her  to  get  married  some- 

235 


236      Business  Training  for  the  Country  Girl 

time.  Her  mother  has  taught  her  how  to  do  house- 
work." Further  than  that  the  father  seemed  to 
know  very  little  about  his  daughter,  and  he  showed 
plainly  that  he  did  not  consider  this  second  topic 
of  conversation  half  so  interesting  as  the  first  one. 

Is   THE   COUNTRY   GIRL  NEGLECTED? 

Inquiry  will  prove  that  the  foregoing  case  of 
parental  ignorance  and  indifference  about  the  daugh- 
ter is  all  too  common,  especially  the  ignorance.  It 
seems  never  to  have  occurred  to  many  parents  who 
have  growing  daughters  that  unless  the  young 
woman  have  a  fair  amount  of  knowledge  of  the  value 
and  use  of  money  her  future  happiness  and  well- 
being  and  that  of  her  family  are  in  danger  of  becom- 
ing seriously  jeopardized.  It  is  a  singular  and  yet 
lamentable  fact  that  so  many  American  parents,  — 
parents  too  who  are  intensely  desirous  that  their 
growing  children  have  the  best  possible  moral  and 
religious  teaching  —  that  these  same  good  parents 
fail  to  understand  how  one  of  the  very  foundation 
stones  of  efficient  moral  and  religious  life  is  consti- 
tuted of  a  definite  body  of  knowledge  of  common 
business  affairs.  They  do  not  seem  to  realize  that 
the  young  man  or  the  young  woman  who  knows 
from  experience  just  how  money  is  earned,  and  how 
it  may  be  judiciously  expended  and  profitably  in- 
vested, is  far  on  the  way  to  a  high  plane  of  moral  and 
religious  living. 


Why  the  Girl  Leaves  the  Farm  237 

However,  there  is  probably  no  place  of  greater 
opportunities  for  developing  sober  judgment  in  the 
growing  girl  than  that  afforded  by  the  ordinary 
farm  home.  For  here  the  business  management  of 
the  household  and  of  the  farm  affairs  are  practically 
merged.  There  is  the  further  advantage  of  a  con- 
siderable variety  of  ways  whereby  the  daughter  may 
be  remunerated  for  what  she  does.  But,  how  may  we 
best  interpret  this  question  ?  First  of  all,  what  in  a 
practical  sense  is  a  satisfactory  business  training  for  a 
young  woman,  a  farmer's  daughter  in  particular  ? 
Do  we  desire  that  she  become  a  shrewd  money-maker 
and  successful  in  some  sort  of  commercial  life  ?  Few 
would  take  such  a  position.  But  in  order  that 
the  young  woman  may  be  fully  prepared  to  fill  her 
heaven-ordained  place  as  the  center  and  source  of 
love  and  influence  in  a  family,  we  must  provide  that 
she  be  given  just  such  instruction  in  the  use  of  money 
as  will  enable  her  to  occupy  her  high  position  with 
the  greatest  possible  success. 

Why  the  girl  leaves  the  farm 

Under  the  title  above  the  Farmer's  Voice  prints 
portions  of  two  letters  which  help  to  throw  not  a 
little  light  on  this  much-neglected  subject.  Miss 
Alta  Hooper  writes :  — 

"The  one  great  cry  going  out  from  the  people,  and 
one  also  much  in  need  of  an  answer,  is  'how  to  keep 
the  boy  on  the  farm.'     It  is  very  seldom  that  the  girl 


238      Business  Training  for  the  Country  Girl 

of  the  farm  is  alluded  to,  although  it  may  be  that 
she  is  included,  in  a  general  way,  in  the  great  amount 
of  literature  concerning  her  brother.  But,  take  it 
from  the  farmer  girl  that  she  is  a  live  one,  and  unless 
money  is  coming  into  her  pockets,  unless  she  is 
comparatively  independent  and  has  some  interest 
to  keep  her  awake,  she  isn't  going  to  'stay  put,'  but 
will  get  out  where  she  can  earn  some  money  of  her 
very  own,  to  buy  the  little  things  so  dear  to  the  hearts 
of  girls ;  and  she  will  not  be  questioned  and  lectured 
and  scolded  over  every  little  expenditure. 

"Oh,  the  girls  on  the  farm  have  minds  and  pride 
and  ambition  just  as  big  as  their  brothers'  too ;  and 
in  many  cases  they  are  not  given  half  a  chance  to 
realize  one  iota  of  this  ambition.  It  is  then  that  a 
career  off  the  farm  and  away  from  the  farm  home 
appeals  to  them.  Then  the  thought  comes  that  even 
though  the  salary  to  be  earned  may  be  small,  still  it 
is  all  one's  own,  and  there  is  no  fear  in  planning 
where  and  in  what  it  shall  be  invested." 

Likewise,  Mrs.  F.  L.  Stevens,  writing  for  Pro- 
gressive Farmer,  says :  — 

"How  often  have  we  seen  young  girls  leaving  com- 
fortable farm  homes  to  go  into  typewriting,  clerking, 
or  bookkeeping,  in  order  to  have  their  own  money. 
An  allowance  for  personal  expenses  in  the  beginning 
would  have  solved  this  problem.  But  the  father  has 
not  seen  it  that  way. 

"It  is  not  necessary  that  the  daughter  be  given  a 


Plate  XXVI. 


Teach  the  Girl  to  Work  239 

monthly  or  yearly  allowance  of  so  much  cash,  but 
the  really  better  way,  it  would  seem,  would  be  to 
start  her  in  some  special  branch  of  work,  say,  poul- 
try-raising. Or  perhaps  she  might  be  given  a  cow 
or  a  horse  or  a  pig,  which  would  in  time  bring  in 
sums  of  money  by  careful  management;  and  the 
business,  a  small  one  perhaps  in  the  beginning, 
would  easily  develop.  Many  young  girls  like  to 
work  in  a  garden  as  the  produce  is  always  a  good 
source  of  income  and  an  interesting  and  educational 

work." 

Certain  rules  to  be  observed 

If  we  are  to  give  up  the  idea  that  the  young  woman 
naturally  possesses  the  necessary  business  judgment, 
and  to  substitute  the  better  idea  that  she  must  be 
taught  how  to  manage  her  own  affairs;  then,  What 
are  the  fundamental  steps  necessary  to  impart  such 
instruction  ?  It  seems  to  the  author  that  they  are 
these :  — 

1.  Teach  the  girl  to  work.  —  As  was  shown  in 
a  previous  chapter,  the  girl  must  be  taught  care- 
fully and  conscientiously  how  to  work.  Even 
though  she  may  be  so  fortunate  —  or  unfortunate  — 
as  not  to  be  compelled  to  do  any  of  her  own  house- 
work, only  a  first-hand  knowledge  of  how  such  work 
goes  on  will  enable  her  successfully  to  direct  it. 
The  strength  of  our  democracy  is  much  dependent 
upon  the  character  of  our  women.  The  modern  tend- 
ency   toward    the    development    of  a  leisure  class 


240      Business  Training  for  the  Country  Girl 

among  the  women  and  girls  of  the  wealthier  families 
is  quite  as  much  a  menace  to  social  solidarity  as 
was  the  older  order  of  keeping  women  in  ignorance 
and  servitude. 

The  problem  of  household  help  is  much  intensified 
because  of  the  disfavor  with  which  the  so-called 
better  classes  of  women  look  upon  the  vocation  of 
the  domestic  employee.  The  necessary  inequality 
of  rank  of  the  home  mistress  and  her  employees  is 
more  a  matter  of  tradition  and  imagination  than 
of  reality.  The  social  inequality  which  follows  and 
which  drives  many  young  women  into  less  advan- 
tageous places  of  employment  will  disappear  just 
as  soon  as  all  growing  girls  are  conducted  through 
a  carefully  planned  course  of  work  and  household 
industry.  No  farm  parents  can  afford  to  deny  the 
daughter  the  excellent  disciplinary  results  of  careful 
training  in  the  performance  of  every  ordinary  house- 
hold duty. 

2.  Teach  her  business  sense.  —  In  cases  where  the 
growing  boy  or  girl  is  simply  given  spending  money 
for  the  asking  —  or  the  begging  —  there  results  a 
perverted  idea  of  the  meaning  of  money.  A  girl  so 
trained  during  her  youthful  years  is  inclined  to  take 
this  same  attitude  toward  her  husband  in  the  future. 
That  is,  she  will  probably  regard  it  as  necessary  to 
beg  for  an  allowance  and  deem  it  right  and  proper 
to  spend  all  she  can  obtain  in  this  way.  The  serious- 
ness of  such  relations  between  man  and  wife  is  easily 


One  Cause  of  the  Divorce  Evil  241 

seen.  But  the  growing  girl  can  be  taught  that  money 
is  merely  a  convenient  unit  of  measurement  of  values 
which  are  produced  chiefly  by  means  of  work. 

Advanced  students  of  our  social  life  are  putting 
forth  much  effort  to  solve  the  divorce  problem. 
In  their  efforts  to  determine  causes  and  to  provide 
cures  for  divorce,  some  of  them  have  gone  so  far 
as  to  advocate  a  school  for  matrimony,  one  of  the  ends 
being  that  of  preventing  incompatible  persons  from 
entering  into  the  life  union.  Among  the  causes 
contributing  to  the  divorce  evil  have  been  the  radi- 
cally different  ideals  of  the  use  of  money  on  the  part 
of  the  contracting  pair.  An  attorney  of  long  stand- 
ing experience  with  divorce  cases  says  :  — 

"As  a  rule  the  woman  who  alleges  non-support  in 
her  petition  for  divorce  reveals  the  fact,  before  the 
case  is  ended,  that  she  is  lacking  in  the  proper  idea 
of  the  use  of  money,  is  often  especially  weak  in 
knowledge  of  how  the  family  income  should  be 
spent  if  the  family  affairs  are  to  go  on  satisfactorily." 

3.  Train  her  to  transact  personal  business.  — 
Then,  begin  early  in  her  life  to  teach  the  girl  to 
transact  business  affairs  that  relate  to  her  personal 
interests  and  to  the  home  life  of  women.  Do  not 
buy  all  the  little  articles  necessary  for  her,  but  allow 
her,  with  money  reasonably  provided,  to  make  her 
own  minor  purchases  under  your  advice  and  direction. 
The  intelligent  farmer  knows  somewhat  definitely 
what  his  yearly  income  and  outlay  are.     Why  should 


242      Business  Training  for  the  Country  Girl 

not  his  daughter  be  told  how  these  accounts  run, 
in  the  usual  year,  and  she  then  be  asked  to  keep  an 
account  of  all  her  own  personal  affairs  for  a  year  ? 
Such  required  practice  will  do  more  than  all  the 
arithmetic  lessons  in  the  schools  to  inculcate  an 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  value  of  money  in  relation 
to  her  own  affairs  —  to  say  nothing  of  the  good 
business  judgment  likely  to  be  acquired. 

Thus  the  country  girl  may  receive  a  better  business 
training  than  her  city  cousin  whose  nearness  to  the 
attractive  stores  and  shops  proves  a  constant  incen- 
tive for  over-indulgence  and  wastefulness  in  the 
use  of  money. 

4.  Make  her  the  family  accountant.  —  As  soon 
as  she  becomes  old  enough,  take  the  daughter  into 
your  confidence  as  regards  the  family  expense 
account.  Make  her  acquainted  with  the  items  of 
income  and  expenditure  in  detail.  And  also  make  it 
appear  to  her  that  the  business  of  the  home  is  not 
being  conducted  satisfactorily  unless  some  portion 
of  the  income  be  set  aside  for  the  emergencies  of  the 
future. 

At  this  point  there  is  offered  an  opportunity  to 
give  the  daughter  some  much-needed  business 
training.  There  is  much  being  said  of  late  by  way  of 
urging  the  farmer  to  keep  an  accurate  book  account 
of  all  his  transactions.  Out  of  the  experiment 
stations  have  come  published  letters  and  bulletins 
urging  that  such  things  be  done  and  showing  methods. 


Miserliness  to  be  Avoided  243 

But  the  evidence  goes  to  show  that  the  majority  of 
farmers  do  not  find  time  for  it.  So  it  will  in  many 
cases  be  found  practicable  to  turn  this  important 
task  of  bookkeeping  over  to  the  growing  daughter. 
Among  the  many  benefits  to  be  derived  will  be 
the  excellent  business  training  it  will  furnish  her. 
As  a  diversion  from  the  common  household  duties 
the  accounting  will  prove  most  refreshing.  And, 
then,  the  farmer  will  soon  find  this  service  to  the 
farm  business  so  important  as  to  justify  him  in 
paying  his  daughter  reasonably  for  the  work. 

5.  Miserliness  to  be  avoided.  —  While  the  habits 
of  a  spendthrift  are  perhaps  above  all  things  else  to 
be  avoided,  a  close  second  to  this  as  an  evil  practice 
is  the  habit  of  expending  in  a  miserly  and  begrudging 
manner.  So,  teach  the  girl  to  give  her  money 
willingly  for  all  the  ordinary  necessities  and  comforts 
of  life  and  for  such  luxuries  as  the  conditions  will 
reasonably  warrant. 

The  far-sighted  parent  and  the  one  really  interested 
in  the  future  of  his  daughter  will  readily  observe 
how  much  enslaved  adults  finally  become  in  the 
use  of  money.  There  are  perhaps  as  many  well-to- 
do  persons  who  are  miserly  because  they  cannot  help 
it  as  there  are  improvident  persons  who  are  spend- 
thrifts because  they  cannot  longer  prevent  it.  Both 
classes  manifest  the  certain  results  of  training  and 
habit.  In  his  interesting  chapter  on  the  psychology 
of  habit  Professor  James  explains  so  aptly  how  the 


244      Business  Training  for  the  Country  Girl 

man,  long  practiced  in  enforced  economy,  but  at 
length  having  ample  means,  goes  to  the  store  with 
the  determination  of  paying  liberally  for  an  article; 
and  how  he  finally  comes  away  with  something 
cheap. 

A  "golden  mean"  is  therefore  to  be  sought  in 
training  the  girl  in  the  use  of  money.  Not  how  to 
save  at  all  hazards,  but  how  to  spend  judiciously, 
with  conscious  thought  of  the  right  relation  between 
income  and  outlay  —  this  is  perhaps  the  more 
acceptable  ideal. 

6.  Teach  her  to  give.  —  While  inculcating  business 
ideas  into  the  mind  of  your  growing  daughter, 
guard  against  her  acquiring  a  mere  passion  for  money- 
making  and  the  accumulation  of  wealth.  For 
example,  one  of  the  best  means  of  achieving  this  end 
would  be  to  see  that  she  gives  a  part  of  her  earnings 
to  some  worthy  cause  or  other.  Explain  to  her 
again  and  again  that  she  must  keep  up  in  her  life  a 
sort  of  equipoise  of  receiving  and  giving,  if  the  highest 
sense  of  inner  satisfaction  is  always  to  be  her  portion. 

The  young  must  learn  sooner  or  later  that  there  is 
other  than  a  money  profit  to  be  derived  from  the 
investment  of  money.  Accordingly,  it  will  not  be 
found  difficult  for  the  rural  parents  to  point  out  to 
their  daughter  some  place  merely  where  she  may 
invest  a  small  part  of  her  earnings  in  human  welfare. 
An  orphan  child  living  in  the  neighborhood  may  be 
sorely  in  need  of  a  new  dress  or  school  books,  a 


Teach  the  Meaning  of  a  Contract  245 

lonely  and  aged  widow  may  be  cheered  by  the  gift  of 
a  wall  picture,  a  crippled  child  may  be  accumulating 
funds  for  hospital  treatment,  or  another  person  may 
have  lost  heavily  from  flood  or  fire.  These  and 
many  more  like  them  may  be  made  the  occasion  of 
teaching  the  girl  a  beautiful  lesson  of  sympathy  and 
sacrifice.  And  the  sacrifice  should  come  out  of 
what  she  has  accumulated  through  her  own  small 
business  enterprise. 

7.  Teach  the  meaning  of  a  contract.  —  It  is 
often  declared  that  women  fail  to  appreciate  the 
obligations  of  a  contract,  that  they  will  enter  into  a 
strict  agreement  to  buy  an  article  or  to  pay  for 
another  and  then  refuse  to  carry  out  such  agree- 
ment. Merchants  have  been  so  often  called  on  to 
deal  with  this  feminine  change  of  mind  that  they 
have  seen  fit  to  establish  a  custom  of  taking  back  at 
cost  any  article  not  found  satisfactory  upon  trial. 
This  failure  of  women  to  adhere  strictly  to  the  terms 
of  an  agreement  has  given  currency  to  the  opinion 
that  they  are  naturally  dishonest.  Weininger  in 
his  volume  "Sex  and  Character"  even  offers  a  line 
of  questionable  proof  to  confirm  the  correctness  of 
the  opinion. 

But  Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall  in  many  of  his  researches 
shows  that  falsehood  and  deception  are  common 
and  natural  practices  among  ordinary  children.  All 
forms  of  honest  and  fair  moral  and  business  practice 
are  less  natural   than  acquired.     They  must  have 


246      Business  Training  for  the  Country  Girl 

actual  experience,  and  much  of  it,  as  a  basis  for  their 
becoming  a  permanent  part  of  character.  Hence, 
the  so-called  dishonesty  of  women  in  relation  to  the 
obligations  of  a  business  agreement  —  that  is  prob- 
ably nothing  more  than  a  matter  of  sheer  ignorance. 
Farm  girls  are  proverbially  lacking  in  business 
practice  and  in  knowledge  of  the  rights  and  obliga- 
tions of  a  contract.  It  is  obligatory  upon  their 
parents  to  remove  such  ignorance  through  business 
training. 

8.  Prepare  her  to  deal  with  grafters.  —  "The 
majority  of  his  victims  were  women,"  is  the  state- 
ment so  often  read  in  connection  with  the  fraudulent 
schemes  of  the  exposed  money  shark.  Millions  of 
dollars  are  annually  taken  from  credulous  women  by 
the  get-rich-quick  money  trader.  This  polite  form 
of  theft  has  become  so  flagrant  as  to  necessitate 
much  vigilance  and  many  prosecutions  on  the  part  of 
the  national  government.  Widows  and  other  de- 
pendent women  are  especially  the  sufferers. 

The  necessity  of  preparing  the  innocent  young 
woman  to  deal  with  the  enticing  business  fraud  is 
very  apparent.  Two  or  three  matters  must  es- 
pecially be  attended  to  in  giving  the  required  in- 
struction. First,  take  advantage  of  many  occasions 
to  explain  to  the  girl  just  how  a  given  case  is  being 
worked,  so  that  she  may  be  on  guard  against  such 
allurements;  second,  it  is  well  to  advise  the  un- 
trained young  woman  against  investing  in  any  scheme 


Money  Making  Incidental  247 

of  profit  sharing  that  offers  above  a  good  current 
rate  of  interest. 

Should  there  be  an  actual  investment? 

Then,  what  if  anything  should  be  done  in  the 
ordinary  farm  home  by  way  of  providing  an  invest- 
ment for  the  growing  daughter  so  that  she  may  daily 
have  some  practice  in  business  affairs,  as  well  as  an 
income  for  use  in  meeting  her  personal  expenses  ? 
Before  attempting  to  answer  this  question,  let  us 
be  certain  that  we  have  the  correct  point  of  view  of 
the  growing  daughter's  ideal  relation  to  the  prac- 
tical affairs  in  the  rural  home.  It  seems  to  the 
author  that  there  is  only  one  safe  rule  of  pro- 
cedure here  and  that  is,  whatever  the  investment,  — 
if  there  be  any  at  all,  —  it  must  be  understood  that 
the  ideal  is  one  of  developing  the  girl  into  a  beautiful 
womanhood  and  not  one  of  making  the  investment 
pay  in  the  mere  money  sense  of  the  term.  In  other 
words,  the  business  of  the  farm  and  the  farm  home 
must  serve  directly  the  highest  interests  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  household,  even  though  money  accumula- 
tions cannot,  as  a  result,  go  on  quite  so  fast.  Or,  as 
we  have  put  it  several  times  before :  The  farm  and 
the  live  stock  and  all  that  pertains  thereto  must  be  so 
managed  as  to  contribute  directly  to  the  development 
of  the  high  aspects  of  character  in  the  boys  and  girls, 
and  not  as  materials  which  the  growing  boys  and  girls 
are  to  help  build  up  and  multiply. 


248      Business  Training  for  the  Country  Girl 

Now,  if  it  still  be  insisted  upon  that  the  country 
girl  have  a  definite  business  relation  to  the  affairs  of 
the  home,  there  are  two  or  three  ways  whereby  this 
may  be  accomplished.  One  method  is  to  give  the 
girl  a  fixed  and  reasonable  sum  of  money  for  whatever 
she  may  do  by  way  of  helping  in  the  house.  Another 
is  that  of  providing  a  small  investment  in  something 
that  may  be  expected  to  increase  reasonably  in 
value  and  finally  bring  her  a  money  return.  Of  the 
two  methods  of  procedure  mentioned,  it  would  seem 
that  the  first  is  the  more  desirable.  If  the  daughter 
be  given  an  interest  in  anything  like  the  live  stock 
or  some  farm  crop,  the  thing  will  not  appeal  to  her 
directly,  and  whatever  interest  she  may  have  in  it 
will  be  a  purely  borrowed  one.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  she  be  given  a  generous  allowance  for  her  services, 
and  during  the  younger  years  be  trained  in  the  expen- 
diture of  this  allowance,  good  results  may  be  expected. 
Similarly  as  with  the  boy,  the  growing  girl  must  be 
taught  to  look  toward  the  future.  A  system  of  re- 
straints must  be  placed  against  her  tendency  to 
squander  her  small  income,  and  gradually  she  may  be 
trained  to  set  aside  a  small  portion  of  what  she  has 
with  a  view  to  its  being  applied  upon  something  of 
her  own  later  in  life.  It  is  perhaps  too  much  to  ask 
the  girl  to  save  enough  money  to  pay  her  way  through 
college,  but  there  are  many  advantages  in  training 
her  to  save  for  a  certain  portion  of  that  expense. 
Perhaps  she  may  be  able  to  buy  her  own  clothes. 


How  Southern  Girls  Earn  Money  249 

It  is  not  reasonable  to  assume  that  every  well- 
trained  country  girl  will  find  it  advisable  to  take  a 
college  course.  So,  instead  of  saving  up  for  college 
expenses,  she  may  be  taught  to  lay  by  something  for 
the  day  of  her  marriage  and  with  the  thought  of 
helping  equip  a  home  of  her  own.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  it  is  not  a  question  of  the  specific  purpose  for 
which  the  money  may  be  set  apart.  The  main 
issue  is  that  of  staying  by  her  day  after  day  and  week 
after  week,  and  guiding  and  advising  her  until  she 
finally  acquires  good  sense,  mature  judgment, 
and  self-reliance  in  regard  to  the  business  affairs 
that  may  be  expected  to  constitute  a  part  of  her 
life  as  a  keeper  of  a  home  of  her  own. 

How  the  southern  girls  earn  money.  —  One  of  the 
most  interesting  and  significant  modern  movements 
in  behalf  of  juvenile  industry  is  that  of  the  Southern 
Girls'  Tomato  Clubs,  originated  in  1910  by  Miss 
Marie  Cromer,  a  rural  school  teacher  of  North  Car- 
olina. Thousands  of  young  girls  are  now  partici- 
pants in  the  new  work,  each  one  tending  a  small 
plat  of  tomatoes  and  canning  the  produce  for  the 
market.  One  girl  is  reported  to  have  cleared  $130 
from  one  season's  crop  raised  on  one  fourth  of  an 
acre.  The  General  Education  Board  and  the  Na- 
tional Department  of  Agriculture  have  given  lib- 
eral support  to  this  tomato-growing  work. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

WHAT  SCHOOLING  SHOULD  THE  COUNTRY 
BOY  HAVEf 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  rural  life  conditions 
have  been  changing  rapidly  within  the  past  decade 
or  more.  It  has  taken  us  a  long  while  to  get  away 
from  the  thought  that  the  farmer  is  to  be  anything 
other  than  merely  a  plain,  coarse  man,  comparatively 
uneducated  and  innocent  of  the  ways  of  the  world. 
But  we  are  at  last  seeing  the  light  in  respect  to  this 
and  many  another  such  traditional  belief  of  a  men- 
acing nature.  We  are  now  looking  forward  ex- 
pectantly to  the  time  when  the  rural  community 
shall  contain  its  proportionate  share  of  people 
educated  or  cultured  in  the  full  sense  of  either  of 
these  words. 

Changes  in  rural  school  conditions 

Many  of  those  now  in  middle  life  can  easily 
remember  when  the  farmer  boy  was  sent  to  school 
only  during  the  time  when  his  services  were  not 
required  for  the  performance  of  the  work  about  the 
field  and  the  home.  This  period  was  narrowed  down 
to  about  three  months  in  the  year.  After  the 
corn  was  husked  in  the  fall,  he  entered  school,  usually 

250 


Education  Now  Compulsory  251 

about  December  first.  And  at  the  first  sign  of 
spring,  about  March  first,  he  was  called  away  to 
begin  preparations  for  the  new  season's  crop.  Dur- 
ing these  sixty  days,  more  or  less,  the  growing  lad 
was  supposed  to  pick  up  the  rudiments  of  learning 
and  by  the  time  maturity  was  reached  to  have  worked 
himself  out  of  the  ranks  of  the  illiterate.  So  he  did, 
for  he  learned  to  read  falteringly,  to  write  a  scrawling 
hand,  and  to  solve  a  few  arithmetical  problems. 

We  observe  the  new  order  of  things.  In  practically 
all  the  states  there  have  been  recently  enacted  laws 
requiring  every  normal  child  to  attend  school  during 
the  entire  term  and  to  continue  for  a  period  of 
seven  or  eight  years.  The  splendid  results  of  this 
provision  have  only  begun  to  be  apparent,  but 
another  decade  will  reveal  them  in  large  proportions. 
Back  of  this  new  legislation  in  behalf  of  the  boys 
and  girls  is  the  new  ideal  of  the  possibilities  and 
the  worth  of  the  ordinary  human  being.  We  are 
just  beginning  to  understand  this  splendid  truth ; 
namely,  that  with  very  few  exceptions  all  of  our  new- 
born young  have  latent  within  them  all  the  aptitudes 
necessary  for  the  development  of  beautiful  and 
symmetrical  character.  The  modern  ideal  of  public 
education  recognizes  two  things:  first,  the  right  of 
the  child  to  the  fullest  possible  development;  and 
second,  the  duty  of  society  to  see  that  the  child 
receive  such  training  whether  the  parent  may  wish  to 
accord  it  to  him  or  not. 


252     What  Schooling  Should  the  Country  Boy  Have 

The  author  is  especially  desirous  that  the  reader 
appreciate  the  situation  sketched  in  the  foregoing 
paragraph.  What  does  it  mean  ?  It  means  that 
our  children  are  at  last  to  have  more  nearly  equal 
opportunities  of  development,  that  their  worthy 
aptitudes  or  traits  are  to  be  brought  out  through 
instruction  and  made  to  do  service  in  the  construction 
of  a  sterling  character.  It  means  that  we  shall  have 
cultured  artisans  as  well  as  cultured  artists ;  that  the 
plain  man  behind  the  plow  or  in  the  workshop 
shall  be  capable  of  thinking  the  big,  inspiring 
thoughts  as  well  as  the  little,  puny  ones.  It  means 
that  there  will  spring  up  everywhere  among  the 
ranks  of  those  once  regarded  as  low  and  coarse,  a 
magnificent  society  of  men  and  women  who,  as  in- 
dividuals, will  feel  and  realize  a  secret  sense  of  power 
and  worth,  and  who  will  shine  in  the  light  of  a  new 
inspiration. 

The  boy  a  bundle  of  possibilities 

It  has  been  proved  beyond  question  that  the  ordi- 
nary child  contains  at  birth  potentialities  of  devel- 
opment far  greater  in  amount  and  variety  than  any 
amount  of  schooling  can  ever  bring  into  full  realiza- 
tion. If  you  will  make  a  list  of  one  hundred  differ- 
ent and  highly  specialized  vocations,  and  pause  for 
a  moment  to  contemplate  the  matter,  you  will 
doubtless  agree  that  any  common  boy  might  be  so 
trained  as  to  some  degree  in  any  one  of  the  hundred 


Plate  XXVII. 


Real  Dullards  are  Scarce  253 

that  he  might  be  made  to  do  fairly  well  in  several  of 
them;  and  that  he  might  become  an  expert  in  at 
least  one  of  them. 

So,  there  is  little  need  of  being  worried  over  the 
thought  that  the  boy  is  a  natural-born  dullard, 
without  native  ability  to  learn  and  finally  to  make  his 
way  in  the  world.  It  is  true  that  there  is  occasion- 
ally a  real  "blockhead"  among  children,  but  such 
cases  are  quite  as  rare  as  imbecility  and  physical 
deformity.  Indeed,  such  cases  are  nearly  always 
connected  with  one  or  both  of  the  defects  just  named. 
Then,  while  in  the  usual  instance  the  child  is  to  be 
assumed  to  possess  an  ample  amount  of  native 
talent,  one  of  the  specific  problems  of  his  parents  and 
teachers  is  that  of  learning  in  time  what  his  best 
latent  talent  is,  so  that  it  may  give  proper  incentive 
and  direction  for  his  vocational  life. 

Classes  of  native  ability 

Roughly  speaking  there  are  three  classes  of  native 
ability  in  the  [human  offspring:  the  super-normal, 
the  normal,  and  the  sub-normal.  The  first  is  con- 
stituted of  the  geniuses  —  few  and  far  between, 
perhaps  one  in  a  hundred  to  five  hundred.  The  sec- 
ond is  composed  of  the  great  mass  of  humanity  upon 
which  the  stability  of  the  race  is  built  and  out  of 
which  the  geniuses  —  and  the  majority  of  the  sub- 
normals —  spring  through  fortuitous  variation.  The 
third  class  is  constituted  of  the  feeble-minded,  the 


254     What  Schooling  Should  the  Country  Boy  Have 

imbeciles,  and  the  exceedingly  rare  natural-born 
criminals  —  altogether,  perhaps  one  in  every  two 
hundred  or  more  of  the  population. 

Now,  what  we  are  trying  to  get  at  here  is  a  fair 
estimate  of  what  the  parent  may  reasonably  look 
for  by  way  of  a  stock  of  native  ability  in  his  child. 
The  natural-born  genius  will  be  known  by  one  special 
mark ;  namely,  he  will  be  so  strongly  inclined  toward 
one  special  line  of  work  or  calling  as  to  need  no  out- 
side stimulus  or  incentive  to  make  him  take  it  up. 
Indeed,  in  the  usual  case  of  a  pronounced  genius  it  is  a 
very  difficult  matter  to  prevent  the  individual  from 
following  out  his  one  over-mastering  predisposition. 

The  marks  of  feeble-mindedness  or  idiocy  are  too 
well  known  to  need  description.  Such  cases  are  also 
so  rare  and  so  special  in  their  manner  of  treatment  as 
to  call  for  no  extended  discussion. 

The  great  talented  class 

The  great  masses  of  humanity  are  constituted  of 
what  we  mean  here  by  the  talented.  That  is,  as 
described  above,  at  birth  they  possess  a  large  and 
abundant  stock  of  potentialities  of  learning  and 
achievement  —  much  more  than  can  ever  become 
actualized  because  of  the  comparatively  limited  time 
and  means  for  education  and  training.  Of  course,  we 
recognize  that  among  the  talented  classes  there  is  an 
endless  variety  of  combinations  of  abilities.  So  are 
there  many  degrees  of  ability. 


The  Awakening  of  Talent  255 

But  in  addition  to  the  foregoing  marks  of  latent 
ability  in  the  great  middle  classes  we  must  note  a 
distinctive  feature  of  the  development  and  education 
of  such  classes.  It  is  this :  The  two  great  conditions 
necessary  for  the  successful  development  of  the  ordi- 
nary child  are  stimulus  and  opportunity.  Unless  the 
slumbering  talents  be  awakened  by  the  proper  stimuli, 
they  may  slumber  on  throughout  the  whole  life- 
time and  no  one  detect  their  presence;  and  unless 
opportunities  for  development  be  given  to  satisfy 
the  awakened  talent,  it  may  return  permanently  to 
its  condition  of  quiescence. 

In  attempting  to  furnish  the  necessary  stimuli  and 
opportunities  for  the  development  of  his  boy,  the 
farmer  has  —  if  he  will  only  use  it  —  a  great  advan- 
tage over  the  city  father.  The  great  variety  of 
work-and-play  experience  afforded  by  the  rural 
situation,  the  fairly  good  general  schooling  now  com- 
ing more  and  more  into  reach  of  all  farm  homes,  the 
many  conditions  contributory  to  self-reliance  and 
independent  thinking  in  the  case  of  the  boy  —  all 
these  raw  materials  of  stimulus  and  opportunity  lie 
hidden  about  the  common  country  home.  But  the 
parents  must  themselves  become  wider  awake  to  the 
meanings  and  purposes  of  such  materials,  or  otherwise 
their  value  is  lost  through  disuse.  And  again,  it  is 
urged  that  parents  make  the  same  careful  study  of 
their  children  as  they  do  of  farm  crops  and  live  stock. 
See  the  reference  lists  following  the  first  five  chapters. 


256     What  Schooling  Should  the  Country  Boy  Have 

Round  out  the  boy's  nature 

Fortunately,  the  new  provisions  of  the  schools  are 
furnishing  more  and  more  definitely  the  equipment 
and  the  course  of  training  most  necessary  for  the 
masses  of  the  growing  children.  Fortunately,  too, 
the  illiterate  father  is  not  to  be  permitted  to  dictate 
as  to  what  subjects  his  boy  is  to  study  in  the  school, 
there  being  not  only  compulsory  attendance,  but 
strict  requirements  that  every  child  pursue  the  pre- 
scribed course.  The  time  is  fast  approaching  when 
the  rural  parent  in  any  community  can  feel  assured 
that  this  course  of  study  has  been  mapped  out  by 
expert  authority  in  just  such  a  way  as  to  serve  the 
highest  needs  of  his  boy,  the  idea  being  to  teach  and 
awaken  every  side  of  the  young  nature  into  its  highest 
possible  activity. 

In  the  usual  case  it  is  a  waste  of  time  to  attempt 
to  predetermine  the  boy's  vocational  life  before  he  has 
gone  at  least  well  up  through  the  intermediate  grades 
of  the  common  school ;  and  even  then,  there  is  usu- 
ally not  much  indication  of  what  he  is  best  suited  for. 
So,  one  of  the  great  purposes  of  the  common  school 
course  is  that  of  sounding  the  boy  on  every  side  and 
in  every  depth  of  his  nature,  so  to  speak,  in  order  to 
find  what  is  there,  and  to  determine  what  he  is  by 
inheritance  best  suited  to  do  as  a  life  work. 

The  usual  inclination  of  the  rural  parent  is  that  of 
looking  at  his  son's  education  too  strictly  in  terms  of 


Plate  XXVIII. 


Wait  for  Natural  Growth  257 

dollars  and  cents  and  to  be  impatient  at  the  thought 
of  the  boy's  taking  a  broad,  fundamental  course  of 
schooling.  Such  school  subjects  as  language  and 
composition  are  especially  thought  of  as  a  useless 
waste  of  time.  But  fortunately,  as  indicated  above, 
the  choice  is  no  longer  left  either  to  the  boy  or  his 
father.  The  former  must  pursue  the  subjects  as- 
signed him  and  allow  time  to  prove  the  wisdom  of  such 
a  procedure,  as  it  most  certainly  will.  Wherefore, 
let  the  rural  father  attempt  to  think  of  his  boy,  not 
merely  as  a  coming  money-maker,  but  as  a  coming 
man;  a  man  of  power  and  worth  and  influence  in  the 
community  in  which  he  is  to  live,  a  man  of  whom  his 
aged  father  in  future  time  will  be  most  proud,  and 
by  whom  he  will  be  highly  honored. 

Other  important  matters 

As  suggested  above,  the  evidence  is  very  over- 
whelming in  effect  that  it  is  the  duty  of  rural  parents 
to  give  their  children  a  broad,  general  course  of 
training  as  a  foundation  for  efficient  life  in  any  place 
or  position.  Moreover,  it  must  not  be  thought  for  a 
moment  that  the  legacy  of  money  or  property  will 
in  any  wise  furnish  a  satisfactory  substitute  for  such 
a  course  of  training.  Mean-spiritedness  and  narrow- 
mindedness  are  almost  invariably  prominent  traits  of 
the  man  who  has  been  prepared  to  know  nothing 
outside  of  his  business  even  though  that  may  be  a 
big  business.     On  the  other  hand,  extensive  culture, 


258     What  Schooling  Should  the  Country  Boy  Have 

including  a  character  well  developed  in  all  of  its 
essential  elements,  is  by  far  the  best  equipment  that 
can  possibly  be  furnished  the  boy  for  his  start  in 
life. 

Now,  while  the  growing  boy's  education  must  not 
be  especially  prejudiced  in  favor  of  any  particular 
calling,  there  is  no  good  reason  why  the  farmer's 
son  should  not  be  given  the  benefit  of  every  possible 
intimate  and  wholesome  relation  to  the  father's 
work  and  business.  That  is,  he  must  not  be  forced 
to  take  up  the  vocation  of  farming,  but  he  must  be 
given  every  opportunity  to  know  its  best  meanings 
and  advantages.  And  if  he  is  finally  to  leave  for 
some  foreign  occupation,  he  must  go  with  a  profound 
sense  of  the  possible  worth  and  integrity  of  the  calling 
of  his  father.  Then,  in  order  that  there  may  be 
maintained  most  friendly  relations  between  the  farm 
boy  and  the  farm  life,  see  to  it  that  he  has  an  occa- 
sional outing.  Widen  the  scope  of  his  home  environ- 
ment by  means  of  sending  him  outside  occasionally. 
Let  him  go  off  to  the  state  and  county  fair  and  learn 
what  he  can  there.  Let  him  participate  in  the  grain 
and  stock  judging  contests,  as  heretofore  recom- 
mended. Let  him  attend  some  of  the  larger  sales 
of  blooded  stock  and  learn  there  to  know  more  inti- 
mately the  possibilities  of  animal  husbandry.  Ac- 
company him  on  a  trip  to  the  big  city  occasionally  — 
under  proper  provisions  and  restrictions  —  and  help 
him  to  acquire  some  valuable  lesson  which  may  be 


A  Human  Interest  Necessary  259 

taken  back  to  the  rural  community  and  used  to  the 
advantage  of  the  latter. 

Also,  what  about  the  literature  in  the  home  ? 
Although  a  chapter  has  already  been  given  to  the 
matter,  for  the  sake  of  emphasizing  its  great  impor- 
tance it  is  again  referred  to  here.  Why  not  see  to  it 
that  there  be  secured  a  few  enticing  volumes  of  the 
clean  and  uplifting  sort  ?  A  very  few  dollars  will 
furnish  the  nucleus  of  a  library  of  which  the  boy  will 
soon  become  proud.  Ask  the  school  superintendent 
or  teacher  to  make  out  a  list  of  ten  of  the  best  books 
for  your  boy  and  then  secure  these  at  once.  Bring 
into  the  home  also  one  or  two  of  the  best  standard 
magazines  and  keep  constantly  on  the  table  one  or 
more  of  the  best  and  cleanest  newspapers.  Then,  see 
to  it  that  the  boy's  life  be  not  so  nearly  dragged  out 
during  the  day's  work  that  he  cannot  spend  thirty 
minutes  or  more  of  each  evening  at  the  reading  table. 

Develop  an  interest  in  humanity 

All  education  is  for  the  sake  of  human  welfare. 
The  thing  learned  like  the  material  thing  possessed 
is  most  worth  while  in  proportion  as  it  serves  some 
high  human  purpose  or  need.  There  is  abundant 
opportunity  to  teach  the  country  boy  that  education 
cannot  well  exist  for  its  own  sake  or  purely  for  one's 
own  selfish  uses.  So  it  is  well  early  to  awaken  the 
youth's  interest  in  people.  Have  him  compare  his 
own  lot  with  that  of  others  in  very  different  circum- 


260    What  Schooling  Should  the  Country  Boy  Have 

stances.  Take  him  occasionally  to  the  orphanage, 
the  industrial  (reform)  school,  the  imbecile  and  in- 
sane asylums,  the  prisons,  and  the  sweat-shops  in  the 
city.  Thus  through  acquainting  him  with  how  the 
other  half  lives  you  may  cause  the  boy  to  reflect  seri- 
ously on  the  best  meanings  and  possibilities  of  his 
Own  life,  and  to  plan  in  his  mind  a  splendid  ideal  of 
integrity  for  his  own  coming  manhood. 

The  boy's  education  is  not  going  on  rightly  if  he  is 
not  being  introduced  to  the  current  affairs  of  the 
world.  The  literature  suggested  above  should  be 
made  to  serve  the  purpose  of  bringing  his  attention 
to  these  matters.  He  should  become  interested  in 
the  political  welfare  of  his  community,  his  state,  and 
his  nation,  and  learn  to  feel  his  responsibility  in  re- 
gard to  such  things.  But  he  will  probably  not  volun- 
tarily acquire  these  better  relations  to  society  at 
large.  It  should  therefore  be  regarded  as  the  urgent 
duty  of  the  parent  to  give  the  necessary  guidance 
and  instruction. 

Finally,  we  must  again  be  reminded  of  the  high 
ideals  of  education  and  culture  necessary  to,  and 
consistent  with,  substantial  country  life.  The  great- 
est of  producing  classes  —  the  agronomists  —  must 
and  can  in  time  rank  at  the  head  of  all  others  in  moral 
and  intellectual  worth.  So,  let  the  rural  parent  look 
ahead  and  formulate  in  his  own  mind  the  splendid 
vision  of  his  son  grown  up  to  full  maturity  of  all  his 
best  powers.     Let  him  see  this  future  citizen  as  a 


References  261 

man  of  magnanimity,  of  splendid  personal  force,  and 
of  great  constructive  ability  in  the  important  work  of 
building  up  the  affairs  of  the  community  in  which  he 
is  to  live. 

REFERENCES 

Chapters  in  Rural  Progress.  President  Kenyon  L.  Butterfield.  Chapter 
VI,  "Education  for  the  Farmer."     University  of  Chicago  Press. 

Education  for  the  Iowa  Farm  Boy.  H.  C.  Wallace.  Pamphlet.  (Free.) 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  Des  Moines. 

Value  during  Education  of  a  Life  Career  Motive.  C.  W.  Eliot.  Annual 
Volume  N.E.A.,  1910. 

To  keep  Boys  on  the  Farm.     M.  E.  Carr.     Country  Life.    April  1,  1911. 

Education  Best  Suited  for  Boys.  R.  P.  Halleck.  Annual  Volume 
N.E.A.,  1906,  p.  58. 

The  Training  of  Farmers.  Dr.  L.  H.  Bailey.  The  Century  Company. 
Contains  a  statistical  study  of  why  boys  leave  the  farm. 

The  Best  Thing  a  College  does  for  a  Man.  President  Charles  F.  Thwing. 
Forum,  Volume  18,  p.  579. 

The  Care  of  Freshmen.  President  W.  O.  Thompson.  Annual  Vol- 
ume N.E.A.,  1907,  p.  723. 

Proceedings  of  Child  Conference  for  Research  and  Welfare.  Page  142. 
"The  Discipline  of  Work."  Frederick  P.  Fish.  G.  E.  Stechert  & 
Co.,  New  York. 

The  Young  Man's  Problem.  Educational  Pamphlet  No.  1.  Society  of 
Sanitary  and  Moral  Prophylaxis.  New  York.  10  cents.  Every 
parent  should  read  this  excellent  discussion  on  sex  education. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

WHAT  SCHOOLING  SHOULD  THE  COUNTRY 
GIRL  HAVE? 

Perhaps  it  need  not  be  urged  that  the  country  girl 
be  provided  with  the  same  general  educational  ad- 
vantages as  those  outlined  for  the  country  boy,  as 
the  plain  demands  of  justice  would  mean  as  much. 
She,  too,  must  be  thought  of  as  possessing  all  the 
beautiful  latent  possibilities,  and  high  ideals  of  per- 
sonal worth  and  character  should  be  constantly 
entertained  for  her  in  the  minds  of  her  parents. 
And  then,  they  must  allow  no  ordinary  business  con- 
cern about  the  farm  home  to  stand  in  the  way  of  her 
unfoldment  in  the  direction  of  these  higher  ideals. 

Special  problems  relating  to  the  girl 

Over  and  above  those  provisions  which  relate  to 
the  general  development  of  the  country  boy  there  are 
several  special  considerations  in  reference  to  his 
sister.  For  example,  she  has  a  more  delicate  physical 
organism  which  must  be  shielded,  especially  at  times, 
against  the  heavy  drudgery  that  will  naturally  fall 
upon  her  willing  shoulders.  And  then,  the  stand- 
ards require  of  her  rather  more  of  refined  manners 
than  they  do  of  her  brother.     Moreover,  it  may  be 

262 


Protect  the  Girl's  Health  263 

shown  that  a  refined  and  attractive  personality  will 
become  a  larger  asset  in  her  life  than  in  his.  Come- 
liness and  habitual  cheerfulness  and  numerous  other 
like  qualities  must  be  thought  of  as  necessary  and 
helpful  characteristics  of  the  well-reared  country 
girl.  It  will  also  be  much  to  her  advantage  to  have 
some  special  training  in  at  least  one  of  the  so-called 
fine  arts.  Let  her  have  her  musical  education  or 
some  advanced  work  in  literature  or  painting.  A 
sum  of  money  invested  in  something  of  this  sort  while 
the  daughter  is  growing  may  be  considered  a  far 
better  investment  than  if  the  same  amount  were  laid 
away  to  invest  in  a  dowry. 

Protecting  the  girl  at  school 

It  is  not  merely  obligatory  that  the  farmer  send 
his  young  girl  to  the  district  school  regularly,  and 
thus  round  out  her  nature  symmetrically  through 
instruction  in  all  the  common  branches.  The  deli- 
cate nature  of  the  normal  girl  requires  far  more  pro- 
tection than  is  often  accorded  it.  Unlike  the  city 
walks  and  pavements,  the  country  road  leading  to 
the  schoolhouse  is  often  menaced  by  muddy  sloughs, 
tall  vegetation,  and  deep  snow  banks.  Wading 
through  such  places,  especially  in  bad  weather,  gives 
undue  exposure,  the  feet  frequently  becoming  wet 
and  the  body  thoroughly  chilled.  Many  children  sit 
all  day  in  the  schoolroom  in  this  condition.  As  a 
result  of  the  lowered  vitality  the  incipient  forms  of 


264     What  Schooling  Should  the  Country  Girl  Have 

various  diseases  enter  the  body,  there  perhaps  to 
return  intermittently  and  with  more  serious  effects 
as  the  life  advances. 

What  may  be  done  as  preventive  measures,  it  is 
asked.  Simply  this :  Prepare  a  better  road  from  the 
home  to  the  schoolhouse,  by  putting  in  foot  crossings 
over  ravines,  by  mowing  weeds  and  grass,  by  filling 
and  draining  low  places,  and  the  like.  On  stormy 
days  and  on  occasions  when  the  young  adolescent 
girl  is  passing  through  her  monthly  period  of  weakness 
—  one  especially  endangering  the  health  —  it  will  be 
advisable  to  provide  a  conveyance  to  school  and  back. 

Country  parents  also  often  need  to  be  cautioned 
in  regard  to  over-working  the  school  girl.  Some  even 
require  her  to  do  practically  the  same  amount  of 
work  as  she  could  well  endure  were  there  no  extra 
burdens  at  school.  Manifestly,  this  is  both  unjust 
and  injurious.  Observe  the  conduct  of  the  young 
school  girl  for  a  few  days.  If  there  is  no  song  and 
laughter  in  her  life ;  if  she  is  not  ruddy  in  complexion 
and  buoyant  of  step ;  if  she  mopes  and  drones  about 
the  place ;  do  not  censure  her,  but  seek  a  constitu- 
tional cause  and  watch  for  evidences  of  an  over- 
requirement  of  work. 

The  close  inspection  of  the  health  of  school  chil- 
dren, now  conducted  in  many  cities,  brings  out  the 
somewhat  startling  fact  that  many  boys  and  girls 
come  to  the  class  room  every  morning  fatigued  and 
depressed  beyond  the  point  of  effective  study.     The 


New  Methods  with  Dullards  265 

old  way  was  to  call  them  dullards,  to  punish  them, 
to  shame  them  out  of  the  school,  to  humiliate  their 
parents.  The  new  method  of  dealing  with  such  chil- 
dren calls  for  scientific  measures.  First,  the  exact 
conditions  are  ascertained  by  experts;  second,  the 
parents  are  urged  and  helped  to  provide  for  the  child 
more  sleep,  better  food,  more  fresh  air  in  the  living 
chambers,  more  recreation,  a  relief  from  over-work, 
or  some  special  medical  care  —  as  the  particular  case 
may  demand. 

If  one  wishes  full  evidence  of  the  effective  gain  for 
studentship  that  results  from  the  new  manner  of 
treatment  of  the  dull  and  backward  pupil,  let  him 
examine  the  many  reports  of  individual  cases  as  pub- 
lished in  the  Psychological  Clinic  at  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  especially  the  issues  of  1909-1910. 
The  indifference  or  the  thoughtlessness  of  country 
parents  may  easily  allow  for  the  existence  of  the 
foregoing  bad  physical  conditions  in  the  case  of  their 
own  daughter,  and  as  a  result  her  otherwise  promis- 
ing life  may  become  permanently  blighted. 

Lessons  in  music  and  art 

The  ordinary  farmer  needs  to  learn  to  take  more 
pride  in  his  daughter  and  in  her  accomplishments. 
The  time  will  come  when  he  will  be  far  more  proud 
of  her  wealth  of  character  than  he  will  be  of  her  wealth 
of  material  goods.  A  country  father  of  moderate 
means  bought  a  first-class  piano  for  his  two  girls  and 


266     What  Schooling  Should  the  Country  Girl  Have 

employed  a  music  teacher.  "You  may  think  that 
I  cannot  afford  such  things,"  said  he.  "But  I  can. 
I  am  running  this  farm  for  the  good  it  will  do  my 
family."  He  was  a  true  philosopher,  as  well  as  a 
successful  farmer. 

It  is  entirely  practicable  and  most  helpful  to  her 
development  to  provide  that  the  country  girl  be  given 
instruction  in  music,  or  art,  or  something  special  and 
advanced  in  the  form  of  needlework.  In  its  best 
sense  this  special  instruction  will  not  be  thought  of 
as  vocational  training,  but  rather  as  a  necessary 
manner  of  giving  permanent  expression  to  her  aes- 
thetic nature.  The  author  believes  that  the  matter 
should  be  stated  even  more  emphatically.  That  is, 
not  to  give  the  normal  girl  some  such  means  of  in- 
dulging her  aesthetic  tastes  is  seriously  to  neglect  her 
education,  if  not  to  do  her  a  permanent  wrong. 

While  vocational  training  and  economic  advantages 
are  important  secondary  considerations  in  connection 
with  the  daughter's  instruction  in  the  fine  arts,  the 
father  who  helps  her  become  an  amateur  in  one  of  these 
lines  thereby  renders  her  a  splendid  service  for  life. 
It  is  neither  very  difficult  nor  very  expensive  to 
arrange  to  have  the  girl  go  to  the  near-by  town  or  to 
a  neighbor's  once  or  twice  per  week  where  she  may 
receive  competent  instruction  in  music  or  painting. 
To  make  the  arrangement  most  effective  there  will 
need  to  be  a  musical  instrument  in  her  own  home,  a 
conveyance  at  her  ready  disposal,  and  a  regular 


Practical  Results  of  Training  267 

allowance  of  time  for  practice.  No  just  and  affec- 
tionate parents  can  deny  their  young  daughter  any 
fewer  advantages  than  these,  if  the  means  for  secur- 
ing them  can  at  all  be  acquired. 

The  reward  will  come  in  time 

The  lessons  in  painting  or  fine  needlework  may  be 
provided  for  in  the  same  way.  If  the  expense  seems 
heavy,  the  far-sighted  parents  will  think  of  their 
declining  days  of  the  future  and  imagine  the  large 
return  the  daughter  may  render  them  through  the 
skill  which  they  have  been  instrumental  in  develop- 
ing in  her. 

But  without  waiting  for  old  age  to  overtake  them 
the  father  and  mother  of  the  girl  artist  may  derive 
some  benefits  from  her  work.  She  may  furnish  the 
table  service  with  hand-painted  chinaware  or  adorn 
the  walls  of  the  home  with  attractive  paintings.  And 
also,  as  heretofore  indicated,  the  daughter  may  her- 
self in  time  conduct  a  class  of  amateur  students  of  the 
fine  art  in  which  she  has  made  preparation. 

One  word  of  precaution  must  be  offered  in  refer- 
ence to  the  training  here  considered.  In  the  usual 
case  the  girl  is  not  started  young  enough.  Her 
advancement  in  the  music,  for  example,  is  likely  to  be 
much  more  rapid  and  her  skill  much  more  marked, 
if  the  age  nine  to  eleven,  rather  than  five  or  six 
years  later,  be  chosen  as  the  beginning  time.  The 
author  has  witnessed  many  pathetic  instances  of 


268     What  Schooling  Should  the  Country  Girl  Have 

adult  girls  in  a  desperate  attempt  to  master  the  me- 
chanical part  of  the  introductory  music.  The  extra 
amount  of  desire  and  effort  possible  at  this  more  ad- 
vanced age  do  not  nearly  compensate  for  the  better 
memory  and  the  greater  facility  of  hand  and  finger 
movement  possible  at  the  earlier  age.  This  same 
general  law  of  early  beginning  probably  holds  good 
in  respect  to  the  other  fine  arts. 

In  relation  to  all  the  foregoing  seemingly  trivial 
matters  there  comes  to  mind  what  is  perhaps  the 
most  serious  problem  that  confronts  practically 
every  well-reared  young  woman ;  namely,  that  of  her 
successful  marriage  to  a  worthy  young  man  —  a 
subject  to  be  discussed  at  length  in  another  paper. 
And  so  it  is  contended  that  if  her  future  happiness  or 
well-being  be  a  consideration,  if  the  realization  of 
her  fondest  hopes  and  her  instinctive  desires  be 
worthy  of  the  thought  of  her  parents;  then,  they 
must  by  all  means  see  that  some  of  the  foregoing 
refining  qualities  become  woven  into  her  whole 
character  during  the  formative  period.  Thus  she 
may  be  given  practically  every  possible  advantage 
in  finding  that  true  life  companion. 

The  mother's  office  as  teacher 

In  his  usual  familiar  and  straightforward  way 
"Uncle"  Henry  Wallace  thus  addresses  the  country 
mother  through  the  medium  of  an  editorial  in  Wal- 
laces* Farmer :  — 


Duties  of  the  Mother  269 

"It  is  the  mother  that  shapes  and  molds  the  charac- 
ter of  the  girl.  If  she  is  sweet  spirited,  looks  out 
upon  the  world  hopefully  and  desirous  of  seeing  the 
best  in  men  and  women,  her  daughters  will  as  a  rule 
have  the  same  sort  of  outlook.  If  she  permits  gossip 
and  fault-finding  at  the  table,  her  daughters  may 
reasonably  be  expected  to  do  likewise.  If  she  sharply 
criticises  the  preacher's  sermon  at  the  Sabbath 
dinner,  she  need  not  expect  her  daughters  to  become 
devout.  If  she  is  a  poor  housekeeper,  how  can  she 
expect  her  daughters  to  excel  in  that  finest  of  all 
arts  ?  We  know  something  of  the  depth  and  tender- 
ness of  a  mother's  love,  how  earnestly  she  seeks  the 
welfare  of  her  daughter ;  but  if  she  has  a  wrong  con- 
ception of  what  is  best  in  fife,  even  this  unspeaking 
affection  may  be  the  source  of  evil  instead  of  good. 

"  One  of  the  first  things  you  should  consider  about 
that  girl  of  yours  is  her  health.  Give  her  plain  food 
and  plenty  of  it,  sensible  clothing,  a  well-ventilated 
and  well-lighted  room,  and  all  the  exercise  that  she 
wants,  even  if  she  does  seem  to  be  something  of  a 
tomboy;  and,  barring  accidents,  she  will  usually  be 
healthy  through  early  girlhood.  When  she  begins 
to  develop  into  womanhood  is  the  time  for  you, 
mother,  to  do  what  no  one  else  can.  Tell  her  about 
herself,  about  the  changes  that  must  come,  and  about 
the  care  she  must  take  of  herself  if  she  is  to  be  a 
healthy  and  happy  wife  and  mother.  A  mistake 
here  through  false  modesty  is  often  the  source  of 
trouble  for  years  to  come." 


270     What  Schooling  Should  the  Country  Girl  Have 

Home-life  education 

This  book  is  based  on  the  assumption  that  every 
good  young  woman  is  good  for  something  of  a  prac- 
tical nature.  In  considering  the  make-up  of  such  a 
character,  it  seems  reasonable  to  assert  that  no  other 
qualities  stand  out  more  prominently  than  the  trained 
ability  to  carry  on  successfully  the  work  of  the  house- 
hold. The  necessary  drudgery  of  the  home  life  seems 
to  be  the  greatest  burden  that  modern  society  has 
placed  upon  women.  Proportionately  great  should 
be  the  preparation  to  bear  this  burden.  The  ideal 
to  be  realized  is,  perhaps,  not  that  the  girl  may  be 
enabled  to  do  more  of  such  work,  but  that  she  may 
be  trained  to  be  true  mistress  of  it.  Woman's  work 
is  never  done,  and  it  never  will  be,  no  matter  how 
many  worthy  women  kill  themselves  in  an  attempt 
to  finish  it.  So  the  greatest  thing  to  be  desired  in 
respect  to  this  unending  round  of  toil  and  drudgery  is 
that  of  a  well-poised,  spiritually-minded  character, 
such  as  may  enable  its  possessor  to  sit  down  at  the 
end  of  a  working  period  unusually  long  and  in  spite 
of  the  confusion  and  unfinished  business  restore  the 
composure  and  keep  in  touch  with  the  higher  impli- 
cations of  life. 

It  is  not  really  a  difficult  matter  to  teach  the  ordi- 
nary growing  girl  to  work  and  perform  faithfully  all 
of  her  assigned  duties.  It  is  more  of  a  task  to  teach 
her  how  to  quit  when  she  has  worked  long  enough 


Plate  XXIX. 


-  •*-/•   -.1 

'MR      -  •  -  -jifm-Vy lii    I^^^^T              ^S 

Self-supremacy  an  Aim  271 

and  thereby  to  preserve  her  health  and  prolong  her 

services. 

Education  for  supremacy 

It  is  unquestionably  a  splendid  aid  to  successful 
womanhood  for  the  growing  girl  to  be  taught  how  to 
cook  and  sew  and  take  care  of  a  house.  But  as  a 
guarantee  of  peace  and  happiness  throughout  life 
she  had  better  be  taught  many  specific  lessons  in 
self-mastery.  And  it  seems  certain  that  the  farm 
home  offers  many  more  advantages  for  developing  a 
poised  character  in  the  young  woman  than  does  the 
city  home.  So  let  it  be  seen  to  by  country  parents 
that  their  girls  be  trained  from  childhood  to  meet 
life's  stress  and  storm  with  calm  composure  and  sweet 
serenity.  Only  such  training  will  suffice  to  tide  the 
latter  over  the  great  crushing  ordeals  that  tend  at 
some  time  to  fall  to  the  lot  of  every  good  woman. 

Conditions  in  the  well-ordered  country  home  may 
be  made  to  contribute  to  another  form  of  self-mastery 
in  the  growing  girl.  That  is,  she  may  be  made  su- 
preme over  the  conventionalities  of  dress  and  the 
social  customs  that  touch  her  life.  By  this  it  is  not 
intended  to  prescribe  in  respect  to  such  things  as  the 
style  or  appearance  of  the  young  woman's  clothing. 
She  may  be  first  or  last  or  medium  in  the  list  of  the 
well-dressed.  But  it  is  here  contended  that  she  can 
be  trained  to  subordinate  these  matters  to  a  personal 
charm  that  is  her  very  own,  and  that  emanates  from  a 
beautiful  and  well-poised  life  within.     It  is  quite  as 


272     What  Schooling  Should  the  Country  Girl  Have 

destructive  to  good  character  for  one  to  be  meanly 
clothed  through  necessity  and  at  the  same  time  envy 
and  despise  those  who  are  better  dressed  as  it  is  to  be 
among  the  richly  adorned  and  try  to  make  mere 
adornment  a  mark  of  better  and  superior  rank  in 
society,  or  a  means  of  lacerating  the  feelings  of  one's 
associates. 

The  country  mother  will  let  pass  one  of  the  rarest 
forms  of  opportunity  for  refining  and  beautifying 
the  character  of  her  daughter  if  she  does  not  educate 
the  latter  rightly  in  respect  to  these  conventionalities. 
Train  her  to  be  neat  and  attractive  in  appearance, 
but  at  the  same  time  teach  her  that  no  manner  of 
outer  adornment  can  cover  up  or  substitute  for  sweet- 
ness and  purity  of  the  inner  life.  The  splendid  effects 
of  such  an  education  will  reveal  themselves  to  best 
advantage  in  the  young  woman  when  she  has  finally 
entered  a  home  of  her  own.  If  she  cannot  then  and 
there  shine  in  a  light  that  emanates  from  her  own 
soul,  the  sacrificial  work  of  ministering  to  the  needs 
of  her  own  household  will  never  be  well  performed. 

An  outlook  for  social  life 

Provision  will  by  all  means  be  made  that  the  grow- 
ing country  girl  be  introduced  to  the  best  social  life 
within  reach.  She  must  mingle  with  those  of  her 
own  age  and  learn  how  others  think  and  act.  She 
must  attend  parties  and  the  other  social  gatherings, 
especially  the  literary  societies  if  there  be  any  avail- 


Altruism  is  Recommended  273 

able.  For  the  sake  of  her  training,  if  for  no  better 
reason,  she  may  be  brought  into  close  relation  to  the 
Sunday  school  and  the  church.  It  will  be  good,  in- 
deed, if  she  find  some  congenial  work  in  one  or  both 
of  these  organizations.  Let  it  be  remembered  that 
the  healthy-minded,  well-matured  woman  is  very 
probably  at  her  best  and  is  most  highly  satisfied  and 
contented  with  life  only  when  she  has  opportunities 
to  perform  some  kind  of  worthy  social  service.  Farm 
parents  may  well  bring  it  about,  therefore,  that  their 
young  daughter  have  some  specific  deeds  of  altruism 
to  perform.  Let  her  carry  a  small  gift  or  a  word  of 
cheer  to  the  door  of  the  sick  or  the  infirm.  Let  her 
make  with  her  own  hands  some  simple,  inexpensive 
present  to  be  carried  to  the  one  who  needs  it  most  and 
whose  heart  will  be  made  glad  by  it. 

Above  all  things  else,  it  must  be  provided  that  some- 
thing more  than  the  mere  grasping  nature  of  the 
young  country  girl  be  indulged  and  developed.  Some 
there  are  who  still  contend  that  life  for  men  is,  at  its 
best,  a  game  of  chance  and  contention.  But  such  an 
ideal,  if  held  up  to  the  growing  girl,  will  tend  to  check 
or  destroy  all  that  is  best  and  most  beautiful  in  the 
feminine  nature.  Young  women  especially  must 
learn  through  practice  that  the  best  and  most  beauti- 
ful character  is  altogether  consistent  with  the  per- 
formance of  deeds  of  service  and  altruism. 

Finally,  educate  into  the  daughter  as  much  habitual 
cheerfulness  as  possible,  let  her  heart  be  made  glad 


274     What  Schooling  Should  the  Country  Girl  Have 

again  and  again,  not  merely  because  of  what  she  has, 
and  because  of  what  she  receives  day  by  day,  but  also 
and  especially  on  account  of  what  she  gives  out  of 
the  best  and  sweetest  of  her  own  nature  in  behalf  of 
those  whom  she  may  find  occasion  to  help  and  cheer 
on  their  way  over  the  journey  of  life.  All  this  will 
help  to  make  her  a  creature  of  whom  not  only  the 
other  members  of  her  family,  but  also  the  entire  com- 
munity will  be  most  proud. 

REFERENCES 

My    Escape   from    Household    Drudgery.     Mary    Patterson.     Success 

Magazine,  August,  1911. 
Proceedings  of  Child  Conference  of  Research  and  Welfare.     Beulah 

Kennard.     Page  47,  "The  Play  Life  of  Girls."    G.  E.  Stechert  & 

Co.,   New  York. 
Women's  School  of  Agriculture.    I.  H.  Harper.     Independent,  June  29, 

1911. 
The  Girl  of  To-morrow  —  Her  Education.    E.  H.  Baylor.     World's 

Work,  July,  1911.     Prize  essay. 
Education  of  Women  for  Home  Making.     Mrs.  W.  N.  Hutt.    Annual 

Volume  N.E.A.,  1910,  p.  122. 
Give  the  Girls  a  Chance.     Canfield.     Collier's,  March  12, 1910. 
The  Durable  Satisfactions  of  Life.     Charles  W.  Eliot.     Pages  11-57, 

"The  Happy  Life."     Crowell. 
The  Kind  of  Education  Best  Suited  for  Girls.     Anna  J.  Hamilton. 

Annual  Volume  N.E.A.,  1907,  p.  65. 
Parasitic  Culture.    Dr.  George  E.  Dawson.     Popular  Science  Monthly, 

September,  1910. 
Training  the  Girl  to  help  in  the  Home.     William  A.  McKeever.     Pam- 
phlet.   2  cents.    Published  by  the  author.    Manhattan,  Kan. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  FARM  BOY'S  CHOICE  OF  A   VOCATION 

Turn  which  way  you  will  upon  the  great  broad 
highway  of  life  and  there  you  will  always  be  able  to 
find  the  wrecks  and  broken  forms  of  humankind  — 
men  and  women  who  have  failed  in  their  life  pur- 
poses. Strange  to  say,  that  particular  aspect  of  the 
science  of  character-building-which  has  to  do  with  the 
substantial  preparation^or  vocational  life  has  been 
very  much  neglected.  By  what  rule  do  men  suc- 
ceed in  their  callings  and  by  what  different  rule  do 
other  men  fail  ?  Are  some  foreordained  to  success 
and  others  to  failure  ?  Is  there  an  inherent  strength 
in  some  and  a  native  weakness  in  others  ?  Is  there  a 
type  of  education  and  training  which  specifically  fits 
and  prepares  for  each  of  the  native  callings  ?  None 
of  these  questions  has  been  thoroughly  gone  into 
with  a  view  to  finding  out  what  were  best  to  be  done 
and  what  best  to  leave  undone.  So,  we  blunder 
away,  hit  or  miss,  in  the  vocational  training  of  our 
boys  and  girls. 

Should  the  farmer's  son  farm? 

In  attempting  to  give  helpful  suggestions  to  farm 

parents  relative  to  their  boy's  vocation,  perhaps  this 

275 


276       The  Farm  Boy's  Choice  of  a  Vocation 

question  will  first  demand  an  answer.  The  tenta- 
tive reply  to  it  is  this  :  The  farmer's  son,  or  any  other 
man's  son,  should  follow  that  calling  for  which  he  is 
best  suited  by  nature  and  in  which  he  will  thereby 
have  the  greatest  amount  of  native  interest ;  provided 
it  be  practicable  to  prepare  him  for  such  calling. 
Some  farm  boys  are  destined  by  nature  for  me- 
chanical pursuits,  others  for  social  or  clerical  work, 
others  for  captains  of  industry,  and  so  on.  Like- 
wise, the  city  boys  may  reveal  in  their  natures  a  great 
variety  of  instinctive  tendencies  and  interests  which 
will  be  found  of  great  worth  in  guiding  them  into  a 
successful  life  occupation. 

Yes,  the  farmer's  son  should  by  all  means  take  up 
his  father's  business;  provided  that  at  maturity  he 
may  have  both  native  and  acquired  interest  in  the 
same  and  that  to  a  degree  predominating  any  other 
native  or  acquired  interest. 

Impatience  of  parents 

It  can  be  proved  that  the  country  boy  matures 
more  slowly  than  the  city  boy.  For  example,  at  the 
age  of  sixteen,  he  is  behind  the  latter  in  height,  weight, 
school  training,  and  sociability.  But  while  the  city 
boy  matures  more  rapidly,  the  country  boy  makes 
up  for  the  loss  by  a  longer  period  of  development.  It 
is  the  author's  firm  belief  that  this  fact  of  slow  growth 
proves  a  tremendous  advantage  to  the  country  youth 
in  that  it  allows  for  greater  stability  of  character, 


Dangers  of  Haste  277 

and  especially  for  a  greater  amount  of  courage  and 
aggressiveness  in  form  of  permanent  life  habits. 

But  one  might  well  wish  that  all  rural  parents  could 
realize  the  evil  consequences  of  being  impatient  with 
the  son  in  respect  to  his  choice  of  a  life  work.  Many  a 
good  boy  yet  in  his  teens  is  hounded  and  driven  about 
by  the  continuous  nagging  of  his  parents,  who  ig- 
norantly  believe  that  he  should  have  his  future  des- 
tiny all  planned  and  ready  for  its  realization.  As  a 
result,  this  same  good  boy  is  often  driven  to  despera- 
tion and  to  the  point  of  leaving  the  home  place  — 
of  breaking  away  from  the  affectionate  ties  that  bind 
him  to  parents,  and  of  seeking  the  position  wherein 
he  might  earn  a  living.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  few 
young  men  have  any  very  clear  or  reliable  vision  of 
their  future  life  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  or  even  twenty. 
Many  of  the  best  men  in  the  world  are  faltering  and 
uncertain  even  as  late  as  twenty-five.  However,  if 
the  relatives  and  friends  would  only  exercise  all  due 
patience,  offering  only  such  helps  and  suggestions 
as  can  be  given,  and  trusting  the  future  finally  to 
throw  upon  the  problem  a  light  from  within  the 
youth  himself  —  then,  we  may  be  assured,  practi- 
cally every  man  will  finally  come  to  some  line  of 
effort  that  will  bring  him  a  comfortable  living. 

What  of  predestination? 

The  old-fashioned  idea  of  a  boy's  being  marked 
by  the  hand  of  destiny,  "cut  out  for"  some  particular 


\ 


278       The  Farm  Boy's  Choice  of  a  Vocation 

calling  in  life,  still  has  a  place  in  the  minds  of  the 
masses.  The  kindred  belief  that  some  men  are 
"natural-born  failures"  has  also  wide  currency. 
A  third  superstition  is  the  very  common  opinion 
that  others  are  "just  naturally  lucky."  All  these 
traditional  opinions  are  the  outgrowth  of  ignorance  of 
human  nature  such  as  may  be  dispelled  by  means  of 
a  course  of  instruction,  or  a  carefully  arranged 
course  of  home  reading,  in  modern  psychology. 

None  of  the  foregoing  superstitions  would  be 
worthy  of  our  attention  were  it  not  for  the  gross  in- 
justice which  they  entail  upon  children.  Parents 
everywhere  —  in  both  city  and  country  —  are  dealing 
with  their  children  upon  the  assumption  that  one 
and  all  of  these  fallacies  are  true.  "My  oldest  boy 
just  naturally  has  no  luck,"  said  the  father  of  three 
sons  and  two  daughters.  "He  changes  around  from 
one  thing  to  another  and  fails  every  time."  But 
what  of  this  particular  boy's  early  training  ?  Was 
it  the  same  as  that  of  the  others  ?  Did  he  enjoy 
equal  advantages  ?  Did  his  parents  when  married 
really  know  anything  about  rearing  children?  or,  did 
they  really  mistreat  their  first-born  through  ignorance 
and  use  him  as  a  sort  of  practice  material  from  which 
they  learned  how  to  do  better  by  the  succeeding  ones  ? 

Until  the  foregoing  inquiries  about  the  "unlucky" 
son's  boyhood  life  be  fully  answered,  we  cannot 
reasonably  permit  ourselves  to  condemn  him.  There 
is  nothing  more  in  predestination  than  this ;  namely, 


Natural-born  Failures  Few  279 

it  can  be  shown  that  the  child  is  born  with  not 
a  few  latent  abilities  —  aptitudes  for  doing  and 
learning  this  and  that  —  and  that  one  of  these 
aptitudes  is  likely  to  have  correlated  with  it  more 
than  the  average  amount  of  nerve  development 
in  the  corresponding  brain  center.  As  a  result, 
that  particular  aptitude  will  require  less  training 
than  the  others  and  will  tend  to  predominate  over 
them  as  maturity  is  approached. 

The  reply  of  the  psychologist  to  the  statement 
that  some  men  are  "natural-born  failures,'*'  'is 
this :  Few  if  any  of  those  possessed  of  ordinary 
physical  and  mental  qualities  at  birth  are  necessarily 
so.  Excepting  the  feeble-minded  and  the  like,  — 
whose  marks  of  degeneracy  are  usually  apparent  to 
all,  —  it  may  be  asserted  on  the  highest  authority 
that  none  are  "natural-born  failures"  to  any  greater 
extent  than  they  are  "natural-born  successes";  but 
that  they  have  within  the  inherited  nerve  mechanisms 
many  possibilities  of  both  success  and  failure. 

Three  methods  of  vocational  training 

We  should  be  willing  to  overlook  almost  any  other 
interest  in  this  discussion  for  the  sake  of  inducing 
in  the  farm  father  the  belief  that  his  young  boy  is 
a  potential  success  —  the  belief  that  this  boy  is 
furnished  by  nature  with  the  latent  ability  to  shine 
somewhere  in  the  broad  field  of  human  endeavor  — 
provided  he  be  rightly  trained  and  disciplined  during 


280       The  Farm  Boy's  Choice  of  a  Vocation 

his  growing  years.  Here,  then,  is  probably  the 
greatest  of  all  the  human-training  problems ;  namely, 
the  vocational  one. 

Roughly  speaking,  there  have  been  three  methods 
of  vocational  training. 

1.  The  apprentice  method.  —  First,  historically 
there  has  been  the  apprentice  method,  the  youth 
being  "bound  out  to  learn  a  trade."  The  chief 
faults  of  this  traditional  way  of  teaching  the  boy 
to  be  self-supporting  were  these :  it  made  no  allow- 
ance for  intellectual  development,  and  it  gave  the 
father  too  much  authority  to  choose  the  calling  for 
the  boy. 

A  modern  offshoot  of  the  old-time  apprentice 
course  is  the  trade  school  which  flourishes  in  many 
of  the  big  cities  to-day.  This  new  institution  has  one 
great  advantage  over  its  prototype.  It  offers  such 
a  great  variety  of  forms  of  training  that  the  youth 
may  exercise  much  free  choice.  But  it  preserves 
one  of  the  serious  defects  of  apprenticeship  in  its 
neglect  of  the  intellect  of  the  learner.  The  modern 
trade  school  can  never  hope  to  do  more  than  prepare 
young  men  and  women  to  make  a  good  living.  It  is 
a  get-ready-quick  institution,  and  can  never  be 
expected  to  give  the  student  breadth  of  view  and 
depth  of  insight  into  the  great  problems  of  human 
life. 

2.  The  cultural  method.  —  The  second-oldest 
method  of  preparing  men  for  a  vocation  is  what 


Three  Vocational  Methods  281 

has  been  called  the  cultural  method.  It  has  aimed 
at  high  advancement  in  book  learning  with  the 
thought  of  finally  enabling  the  student  to  enter  a 
professional  class  comparatively  few  in  numbers 
and  supposed  to  possess  a  superior  advantage  over 
the  great  mass  of  human  kind.  One  fault  of  this 
method  has  been  to  emphasize  learning  for  its  own 
sake  and  to  defer  too  long  the  training  of  the  individ- 
ual in  the  material  and  practical  side  of  his  calling. 

But  the  chief  fault  of  this  cultural  method  has  been 
its  contempt  for  common  labor  and  ordinary  industry, 
its  theory  being  that  true  education  prepares  one  to 
avoid  such  practices.  If  the  young  man  wished  to 
prepare  for  law  or  medicine  or  teaching  or  the 
ministry,  —  one  of  the  "learned  professions,"  —  then 
the  old  classical  school  was  at  his  service.  But  if  he 
would  become  a  mere  artisan  or  industrial  worker, 
there  was  no  advanced  course  of  schooling  available. 

3.  The  developmental  method.  —  The  third  and 
newest  method  of  preparing  the  young  person  for 
his  vocational  life  is  in  reality  a  compromise  between 
the  first  and  second.  It  provides  that  the  learner 
shall  have  book  instruction  and  industrial  training 
at  the  same  time,  and  that  both  of  these  are  to  be 
regarded  as  cultural,  since  taken  together  they 
prepare  for  independence  of  thought  and  action,  and 
for  the  vocation,  as  well.  This  new  method  of 
preparing  young  people  for  their  life  work  would 
call  nothing  mean  or  low.    It  aims  to  serve  all 


282       The  Farm  Boy's  Choice  of  a  Vocation 

impartially  in  their  struggle  for  self-improvement 
and  vocational  success.  But  its  motto  is  the  de- 
velopment of  head  and  hand  together.  It  seeks 
to  produce  cultured  handicraftsmen  as  well  as  cul- 
tured artists  and  professional  men. 

The  farmer  fortunate 

Our  justification  for  the  foregoing  somewhat 
lengthy  discussion  of  the  different  theories  of  educa- 
tion is  that  of  wishing  to  be  certain  of  bespeaking 
the  father's  patience  and  forbearance  in  the  prep- 
aration of  his  son  for  the  vocational  life.  The 
farmer  is  most  fortunate  in  having  ready  at  hand  a 
large  amount  and  variety  of  industrial  practice 
to  supplement  the  boy's  book  lessons.  In  this  respect 
he  probably  has  a  superior  advantage  over  all  other 
classes. 

But  in  guiding  his  boy  gradually  toward  the 
vocational  life  the  farm  father  can  easily  mistake 
what  is  merely  a  passing  interest  on  the  former's 
part  for  a  permanent  one.  The  carefully  kept 
records  of  farm  boys  show  that  they  take  up  many 
different  lines  of  work  with  great  enthusiasm,  and 
yet  soon  tire  of  them  and  drop  them.  These  serial 
and  transitory  interests  are  usually  mere  juvenile 
responses  to  the  awakening  of  some  new  nerve 
centers.  They  are  not  much  different  in  nature  from 
the  brief  passing  interest  which  the  child  has  in  his 
various  playthings. 


What  College  for  the  Boy  283 

Now,  the  chief  function  of  these  transitory  interests 
in  special  forms  of  work  and  learning  as  shown  by 
the  young  growing  boy  is  this:  to  furnish  the 
occasions  for  a  great  variety  of  activities  and  practices 
for  trying  him  out  on  all  the  possible  sides  of  his 
nature.  Not  one  of  these  intense  boyish  interests  is 
necessarily  very  directly  preparatory  to  his  final 
choice  of  a  vocation,  while  all  are  indirectly  so. 
Therefore,  if  the  fifteen-year-old  son  chances  to 
win  in  a  corn-raising  contest,  or  at  a  live-stock  exhi- 
bition, or  if  he  manifests  unusual  interest  in  arith- 
methic,  declamation,  or  nature  study,  do  not  regard 
any  of  these  as  necessarily  pointing  to  his  best 
possible  vocational  work.  Presumably,  at  such 
an  undeveloped  age,  he  is  still  in  possession  of  some 
latent  interests  and  aptitudes,  one  of  which  may 
far  outweigh  any  such  thing  hitherto  awakened 
in  his  life.  Give  him  time  to  mature  and,  if  at 
all  practicable,  send  him  on  to  college. 

What  college  for  the  country  bot 

It  is  the  opinion  of  the  author  that  the  State 
Agricultural  College,  as  now  situated  and  organized, 
is  the  ideal  institution  of  higher  learning  for  the 
country-bred  youth.  It  offers  him  every  reasonable 
incentive  and  opportunity  for  continuing  in  the 
calling  of  his  father,  if  he  be  so  inclined,  while  at 
the  same  time  it  gives  instruction  in  many  other 
departments   of   learning.     Whether   the   state   in- 


284       The  Farm  Boy's  Choice  of  a  Vocation 

stitution  be  a  separate  one  or  merely  a  college  within 
the  organization  of  the  state  university  matters 
little.  In  either  case  the  young  man  will  be  brought 
within  reach  of  a  course  in  scientific  farming,  stock 
raising,  horticulture,  and  the  like,  either  to  choose 
or  let  alone  —  and  the  so-called  cultural  work  will 
still  be  there  for  the  taking. 

The  foundation  in  work 

Many  rural  parents,  weighted  down  with  the  over- 
work of  the  farm,  cherish  and  express  a  very  earnest 
desire  that  their  sons  may  find  some  easier  form  of 
earning  a  living.  So  they  deliberately  plan  with 
the  boy  the  "easy"  course  to  be  pursued.  Said 
one  such  farmer:  "Wife  and  I  decided  that  there 
would  not  be  much  in  it  for  Henry  except  hard  work 
if  he  settled  down  on  the  home  place,  so  we  decided 
to  send  him  to  college  and  educate  him  for  something 
that  offered  less  work  and  more  pay."  So  they 
shielded  the  son  from  the  heavier  duties  of  the  farm 
and  encouraged  in  every  way  the  boy's  thought  of 
an  easy  way  to  success. 

But  one  thing  these  well-meaning  parents  failed 
to  foresee.  That  is,  when  the  boy  entered  college,  he 
began  to  look  for  that  same  sort  of  royal  road  to 
learning.  The  assigned  lessons  and  tasks  soon  took 
the  appearance  of  drudgery  and  he  dodged  and 
avoided  them  wherever  possible.  In  less  than  a  year 
the  youth  had  failed  at  college  and  was  back  home. 


Hard  Work  Fundamental  285 

"The  confinement  of  the  college  did  not  agree  with 
his  health."  More  than  three  years  have  passed 
since,  and  the  boy  has  spent  the  time  drifting  from 
one  "job"  to  another  and  all  the  while  growing 
weaker  in  character  and  integrity. 

Here  we  have  but  another  instance  of  the  old,  old 
story,  with  its  tragic  aspects.  Yet,  nearly  all  the 
faltering,  vacillating  men  now  drifting  about  the 
country  might  have  been  saved  through  careful  train- 
ing in  the  performance  of  work.  The  boy  who  would 
be  insured  success  in  his  coming  vocation  must  be 
required  to  buckle  down  to  solid  work  of  a  kind 
and  amount  to  suit  his  years  and  strength.  He  must 
learn  through  the  character-building  experience  of 
toil,  not  only  what  it  means  to  stay  by  an  assigned 
duty  till  it  is  performed,  but  he  must  also  experience 
the  unfailing  joy  of  work  well  done.  He  will  thus 
have  the  advantage  of  the  spur  of  successful  effort  and 
acquire  the  beginnings  of  that  splendid  self-reliance 
which  is  a  distinguishing  mark  of  all  successful  men. 

Clean  up  the  place 

But  there  is  a  sort  of  drudgery  and  of  ugliness 
against  which  the  boy's  nature  instinctively  rebels, 
and  it  ought  to.  By  this  we  mean  to  refer  to  the 
actual  conditions  of  over- work  and  the  accompanying 
run-down  appearance  that  characterizes  so  many 
farm  homes  to-day.  No  wonder  the  boys  hasten 
away  to  the  city  to  find  a  "job." 


286       The  Farm  Boy's  Choice  of  a  Vocation 

Why  not  clean  up  the  place  by  cutting  away  the 
underbrush  and  weeds,  by  planting  shade  trees 
and  repairing  fences  and  out  buildings,  by  painting 
and  renovating  the  house  and  barn  ?  —  and  all 
this  as  an  investment  in  behalf  of  the  children  and 
their  possible  future  interest  in  the  farm  home  as 
the  best  place  on  earth  in  which  to  dwell  ?  All 
this  and  more  might  be  urged  as  means  of  guiding  the 
thoughts  of  the  farm  boy  towards  the  possibilities 
of  his  taking  up  the  calling  of  his  father.  And 
while  all  these  material  advantages  may  not  serve  to 
overcome  the  natural  tendency  of  the  young  man  to 
seek  a  radically  different  type  of  occupation,  they 
will  at  least  make  it  more  certain  that  his  natural 
abilities  for  an  agricultural  pursuit  were  not  left 
una  wakened. 

Money  value  of  an  agricultural  education 

The  College  of  Agriculture  in  Cornell  University 
some  time  ago  made  an  inquiry  into  the  educational 
status  of  the  farmers  in  a  certain  county  of  New 
York.  It  was  found  that  out  of  573  farmers,  398 
had  not  advanced  farther  than  the  district  school, 
165  had  attended  high  school  one  or  more  years, 
and  10  had  received  a  college  education.  The  398 
who  had  attended  district  school  only  were  receiving 
yearly  for  their  labor  $318;  the  165  farmers  of  high 
school  education  were  receiving  annually  $622; 
and  the  10  who  had  attended  college  one  or  more 


Assurance  of  Success  287 

years  were  receiving  an  average  of  $847  income  for 
their  services. 

The  foregoing  investigation  is  at  least  suggestive 
in  its  results.  It  tends  to  prove  that  there  is  an 
actual  earning-capacity  value  in  the  higher  agricul- 
tural education.  While  the  matter  has  never  been 
extensively  studied,  it  can  doubtless  be  shown  that 
the  graduates  of  the  agricultural  course  are  receiving 
much  larger  incomes  than  any  of  the  classes  named 
above.  In  addition  it  can  doubtless  be  shown  that 
these  graduates  are  better  equipped,  not  only  for 
earning  a  livelihood,  but  for  substantial  citizenship. 
Of  course  there  are  many  notable  exceptions  to  this 
rule,  but  the  rule  is,  nevertheless,  general. 

Now,  if  the  farm  parent  wishes  to  figure  his  boy's 
future  on  the  basis  of  money-earning  capacity,  he  can 
easily  be  shown  that  the  higher  schooling  in  the 
average  case  increases  such  capacity.  In  addition 
there  is  abundant  evidence  of  the  fact  that  the 
higher  schooling  gives  the  young  man  a  much 
better  equipment  for  serving  the  society  in  which 
he  is  to  live. 

A  SUCCESSFUL  VOCATION  CERTAIN 

Finally,  it  may  be  said  that  the  successful  vocational 
life  of  the  ordinary  country-bred  boy  may  be  guaran- 
teed as  practically  certain,  provided  he  have  every 
ordinary  advantage  of  development  and  training 
of  which  he  is  capable.     Train  him  early  in  lessons  of 


288       The  Farm  Boy's  Choice  of  a  Vocation 

obedience  and  work;  make  his  life  more  wholesome 
through  ample  play  and  recreation;  see  that  he 
learns  how  to  earn  money  and  how  to  save  a  part 
of  his  earnings;  provide  that  he  attend  the  public 
school  regularly  until  at  least  the  grammar  grades 
be  finished ;  give  him  an  opportunity  to  become  per- 
sonally interested  in  the  business  side  of  the  farm 
life;  allow  him  opportunities  to  mingle  with  the 
cleanest  possible  society  of  his  own  age;  and  then 
await  patiently  his  own  inner  promptings  as  to  what 
line  of  work  he  should  take  up.  A  college  course 
may  prove  necessary  in  order  to  help  him  uncover 
deeper  and  better  levels  that  lie  hidden  in  his  nature. 
Then,  after  he  has  chosen  a  calling  in  this  careful 
and  reliable  way,  with  all  your  might,  mind,  and 
soul  encourage  and  support  him  in  his  efforts  !  This 
is  practically  the  only  way  to  make  a  big,  efficient 
man  and  citizen  of  your  boy  and  to  make  his  calling 
a  divine  calling. 

EEFERENCES 

Vocational  Education.  Published  bi-monthly.  $1.50  per  year.  The 
Manual  Arts  Press,  Peoria,  111. 

Vocational  Education.  John  M.  Gillette.  Chapter  VI,  "Importance 
of  the  Economic  Interest  in  Society."     American  Book  Company. 

Vocational  Guidance  of  Youth.  Meyer  Bloomfield.  Chapter  II, 
"Vocational  Chaos  and  its  Consequences."  Houghton,  Mifflin 
Company.     The  entire  volume  is  most  timely  and  helpful. 

The  Problem  of  Vocational  Education.  David  Snedden,  Ph.D.  Hough- 
ton, Mifflin  Company. 

New  Type  of  Rural  School  House.  W.  H.  Jenkins.  Craftsman,  May, 
1911. 


References  289 

Vocational  Direction,  or  The  Boy  and  bis  Job.  Annals  American  Acad- 
emy, March,  1910. 

Education  for  a  Vocation.  President's  address  before  the  N.E.A. 
Annual  Volume,  1908,  p.  56. 

Vocational  Direction.  E.  W.  Lord.  Annals  Academy  of  Political  and 
Social  Science  (Philadelphia),  March,  1910. 

Social  Phase  of  Education.  Samuel  T.  Dutten.  Page  143,  "The  Rela- 
tion of  Education  to  Vocation."  Macmillan.  The  entire  book  is 
sound  and  sane. 

Income  of  College  Graduates  Ten  Years  after  Graduation.  H.  A.  Miller. 
Science,  Feb.  4,  1910. 

Occupations  of  College  Graduates  as  Influenced  by  the  Undergraduate 
Course.     F.  P.  Keppel.     Educational  Review,  December,  1910. 

Assisting  the  Boy  in  the  Choice  of  a  Vocation.  Pamphlet.  Wm.  A. 
McKeever.     Manhattan,  Kan. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  FARM  GIRL'S  PREPARATION  FOR  A 
VOCATION 

What,  may  we  ask,  are  rural  parents  doing  in 
regard  to  the  careful  preparation  of  their  growing 
daughters  for  the  vocational  life  ?  The  author  has 
frequently  asserted  that  many  a  farmer  is  to-day 
giving  vastly  more  thought  to  the  question  of  prepar- 
ing his  live  stock  for  the  money  market  than  to 
preparing  his  girls  for  their  life  work.  The  serious- 
ness, the  well-nigh  cruelty,  of  this  situation  becomes 
apparent  only  when  we  inquire  into  the  facts.  How 
long  must  this  carelessness  continue  ?  How  long  will 
farmers  remain  indifferent  to  the  tremendous  re- 
sponsibility of  giving  their  children  every  possible 
aid  in  the  direction  of  a  high  and  worthy  occupation? 
Their  chief  concern  continues  to  be  centered  too 
exclusively  upon  the  cattle  and  the  hogs  and  the  corn. 
Are  the  boys  and  girls  to  be  left  to  shift  for  them- 
selves? And  are  they  to  continue  to  have  their 
careers  determined  by  mere  chance  and  incident  ? 

What  is  the  outlook 

So,  if  the  country  father  having  a  young  family 
were  here  before  us,  we  should  ask  him :  What  is  the 

290 


Plate  XXX. 


The  Daughter's  Marriage  291 

outlook  in  regard  to  a  happy  future  for  your  growing 
daughter  ?  Do  you  want  her  to  take  her  place  among 
the  men  and  be  forced  to  do  some  sort  of  man's  work 
in  order  to  obtain  her  bread?  or,  do  you  earnestly 
desire  that  she  find  some  sort  of  worthy  woman's 
work  ?  And  if  the  latter  be  your  choice,  what  help- 
ful agencies  are  you  bringing  to  bear  upon  the  situa- 
tion ?  In  the  midst  of  all  your  consideration  of  these 
matters  touching  your  daughter,  we  should  have  you 
most  earnestly  and  prayerfully  consider  at  least  one 
thing;  namely,  with  few  possible  exceptions,  the 
healthy,  growing  girl  looks  forward  instinctively  to 
the  time  when  she  is  to  become  mistress  of  a  house- 
hold of  her  own.  And  in  every  case,  if  the  girl  fails 
to  become  such  a  mistress,  there  is  only  one  reason- 
able alternative  to  be  thought  of  and  that  is  to 
provide  that  she  engage  in  some  sort  of  work  which 
will  give  expression  in  the  largest  possible  measure  to 
that  which  is  best  and  truest  in  her  feminine  nature. 
Ordinarily,  in  planning  for  the  future  of  their 
daughter,  parents  might  as  well  consider  the  prob- 
lem as  having  a  two-fold  aspect.  Assuming  first 
of  all  that  the  girl  instinctively  desires  to  preside 
over  a  home  of  her  own,  how  can  she  best  be  pre- 
pared for  that  place  ?  Second,  in  case  that,  by  some 
miscarriage  of  plans,  she  fails  to  reach  this  most 
worthy  ambition,  what  may  she  safely  fall  back 
upon  as  an  adequate  means  of  self-support  ?  Now, 
if  this  statement  of  the  matter  be  a  correct  one,  it 


292     The  Farm  GirVs  Preparation  for  a  Vocation 

seems  that  the  general  scope  of  the  problem  of 
preparing  a  girl  for  her  vocation  ought  to  be  fairly 
clear.  Still  another  way  of  putting  the  situation 
is  this  :  The  girl  must  be  carefully  prepared,  not  only 
for  her  first  choice  of  an  occupation,  but  also  for  her 
second  choice,  because  of  grave  danger  of  the  failure 
of  her  first  choice  to  be  realized. 

There  is  a  perplexing  aspect  of  the  whole  question 
implied  here,  and  every  parent  who  has  a  daughter 
should  become  aware  of  it  and  also  prepared  to 
confront  it.  That  is  to  say,  almost  any  ordinary 
man  may  go  out  into  the  open  market  and  push  his 
quest  for  a  life  companion  and  be  able  to  return 
in  the  course  of  a  very  short  period  with  one  at  his 
side.  But  with  the  girl  it  is  radically  different. 
Practically  her  only  stock-in-trade  consists  of  her 
personal  charm  and  her  pecuniary  advantages. 
And  many  a  young  woman  with  both  of  these 
qualities  very  strongly  in  her  favor  fails,  by  some 
chance  or  other,  to  receive  an  acceptable  offer  of 
marriage.  Statistics  widely  gathered  will  show  that 
age  is  also  a  very  positive  factor  in  this  matter,  and 
that  the  ratio  of  probability  of  marriage  of  a  single 
woman  begins  to  fall  very  rapidly  before  she  reaches 
thirty. 

Desirable  occupations  for  women 

While  there  is  abundant  evidence  to  prove  that 
the  great  majority  of  normal  young  women  desire 


Occupations  for  Women  293 

instinctively  and  above  all  things  else  a  happy 
marriage,  including  a  contented  home  life  and 
children  to  care  for,  some  alternatives  must  be  now 
pointed  out  in  case  of  failure  to  realize  the  highest 
ambition. 

1.  May  teach  the  young.  —  School  teaching  is 
perhaps  the  most  common,  as  well  as  the  most 
commendable,  occupation  for  unmarried  women. 
In  many  a  case,  the  farmer's  daughter  will  find  it 
greatly  to  her  advantage  to  engage  in  this  occu- 
pation for  one  or  more  terms.  Thousands  of  the 
most  worthy  young  women  in  our  land  are  devoting 
their  lives  to  this  highest  of  secondary  vocations 
for  women.  The  work  of  teaching  gives  exercise 
to  the  altruistic  feminine  nature  and  approaches  in 
a  fair  degree  the  satisfaction  which  comes  to  the 
mother  who  is  sacrificing  for  children  of  her  own. 

But  school  teaching  wears  heavily  on  the  vitality 
of  nearly  all  young  women  who  follow  it  long. 
Diseases  peculiar  to  the  sex  are  said  to  be  very  prev- 
alent among  such  teachers,  probably  resulting  from 
an  excessive  amount  of  standing.  Tens  of  thousands 
of  girls  are  going  from  the  farm  home  to  the  school 
room,  some  of  them  to  remain  permanently  in  the 
business,  but  the  majority  to  earn  money  of  their 
own  and  to  place  themselves  in  better  position  for 
successful  marriage.  So,  perhaps  the  first  duty  of  the 
country  parents  to  the  daughter  who  takes  up  school 
teaching  is  to  see  that  the  latter's  health  be  not 


294     The  Farm  GirVs  Preparation  for  a  Vocation 

seriously  impaired  thereby.  After  that,  the  young 
woman's  proper  advancement  in  the  profession  may 
be  thought  of.  The  ungraded  district  school  is 
an  excellent  trying-out  and  testing  position  for  the 
young  teacher.  But  if  she  continues  many  terms 
in  the  school  room,  graded  work  will  prove  more 
advantageous,  especially  in  the  important  matter 
of  bringing  the  young  woman  into  the  company  of 
marriageable  young  men. 

2.  May  take  up  stenography.  —  A  vast  army  of 
young  women  now  support  themselves  with  the  use 
of  the  type-writer.  This  work  pays  slightly  more 
the  year  round  than  school  teaching.  It  is  somewhat 
more  confining ;  but,  for  various  other  reasons,  it  is 
less  deleterious  to  the  general  health.  Such  office 
business,  however,  subjects  the  young  woman  to 
many  temptations.  It  is  the  opinion  of  the  author 
that  stenography  is  not  at  all  a  desirable  occupation 
for  the  farmer's  daughter  to  enter.  The  continued 
absence  from  home,  the  constant  association  with 
people  differing  radically  in  tastes  and  manners  from 
the  rural  population,  not  to  mention  again  the  many 
temptations  to  accept  lower  moral  standards  — 
these  and  other  matters  will  tend  to  estrange  the 
farm  daughter  from  her  parents  and  to  make  them 
feel  that  something  of  the  former  charm  of  sweet 
simplicity  and  home  affection  has  passed  perma- 
nently out  of  her  life. 

One  thing  at  least  is  to  be  considered  before  the 


Altruistic  Work  for  the  Girl  295 

daughter  be  permitted  to  leave  the  country  home  for 
an  office  position.  That  is,  the  work  is  not  to  be 
considered  as  permanent,  but  rather  as  a  possible 
means  of  preparing  for  marriage  and  the  contented 
home  life  that  should  follow. 

3.  May  do  social  work.  —  Next  to  the  work  of 
teaching,  perhaps  the  social-service  work  now  being 
developed  and  carried  on  in  the  cities  would  make 
its  appeal  to  the  true-hearted  young  woman.  Here 
again  we  have  a  sort  of  task  that  dips  into  the 
affections  and  sympathies  of  the  worker  and  furnishes 
an  opportunity  for  her  to  give  freely  out  of  the 
best  she  has  in  her  make-up.  Among  the  fortunate 
considerations  of  teaching  and  social  work  are  the 
opportunities  they  offer  for  the  sympathetic  care 
and  guidance  of  children  —  the  indulgence  of  altruism 
and  the  mother  instinct  in  the  young  woman. 
Parents  will  observe  as  a  rule  that  their  daughter 
returns  from  such  occupations  as  these  with  in- 
creased affections  for  the  home  family  and  the  home 
life  and  a  broader  and  more  general  interest  in  people. 

In  recent  years  there  has  developed  a  new  and  re- 
markably promising  field  of  social  work  for  both 
young  men  and  young  women.  Charitable,  philan- 
thropic, and  other  social-welfare  institutions  have 
been  greatly  multiplied,  while  their  work  has  been 
put  on  a  scientific  basis.  The  modern  method  of 
securing  employees  in  such  places  is  that  of  calling 
persons  especially  trained  and  fitted  to  do  the  work 


296     The  Farm  Girl's  Preparation  for  a  Vocation 

required,  and  to  pay  reasonably  for  the  service. 
Several  new,  first-class  schools  and  institutions  for 
training  workers  in  this  human  field  have  been  re- 
cently organized. 

Now,  if  country  parents  become  anxious  to  have 
their  daughter  go  away  to  the  city  and  find  desirable 
employment  and  that  at  living  wages,  the  author 
recommends  this  new  line  of  social  work  most  highly. 
For  reasons  given  above,  and  for  others,  it  will 
prove  an  excellent  stepping-stone  to  the  home  life  — 
the  work  is  in  the  general  field  of  human  betterment 
so  inviting  to  the  natural  instincts  of  the  well-reared 
young  woman;  the  associates  are  persons  likewise 
interested  in  human  welfare  and  ranking  high  in 
moral  and  religious  character;  the  required  work  is 
usually  of  a  nature  to  awaken  the  deepest  sympathies 
and  affections  and  to  make  the  countenance  of  the 
worker  shine  with  a  new  spiritual  light. 

4.  May  secure  clerkships.  —  Clerking  and  general 
store  work  is  much  followed  by  young  women  to-day, 
but  such  work  may  be  put  down  in  the  list  of  hazard- 
ous occupations  for  women  of  any  age.  Close  eco- 
nomic conditions  in  the  cities  force  many  thousands  of 
girls  to  leave  home  and  seek  clerkships  at  a  wage  so 
low  as  indirectly  to  undermine  the  health  and  more 
directly  to  impair  the  morals.  Great  armies  of  these 
girls  are  compelled  to  live  in  dingy,  cramped  quarters, 
to  subsist  on  much  less  than  the  quantity  of  whole- 
some food  necessary  for  good  health,  to  practice  the 


Clerking  not  Desirable  297 

strictest  economy  in  matters  of  dress  —  to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  constant  temptation  to  sell  their  virtue  as 
a  means  of  increasing  the  small  income  to  the  living 
margin. 

Only  in  extreme  cases,  therefore,  will  intelligent 
farm  parents  consent  to  their  daughter's  leaving  home 
to  take  up  a  clerkship,  and  that  when  her  home  life 
and  her  social  surroundings  can  be  satisfactorily 
foreseen  and  arranged  for  in  advance.  Even  then, 
the  question  must  be  raised :  Will  this  new  position 
probably  prove  helpful  as  an  introduction  to  a  better 
form  of  occupation  ? 

No  other  possible  occupations  for  the  farmer's 
daughter  will  be  listed  here  excepting  that  of  trained 
nurse  —  a  position  in  which  many  young  women  are 
doing  a  splendid  service  for  humanity  and  at  the 
same  time  supporting  themselves  adequately.  But 
of  course  such  a  position  should  not  be  thought  of 
unless  the  girl  feels  an  inner  call  to  take  it  up.  Prac- 
tically all  other  outside  lines  of  work  for  women  are 
too  masculine.  Parents  should  by  no  means  allow 
their  daughters  to  take  up  a  life  task  that  means 
nothing  other  than  mere  money-making.  Many 
women,  it  is  true,  are  succeeding  to-day  in  business 
callings,  but  they  are  doing  so  as  a  rule  in  violation  of 
certain  laws  of  nature.  Many  of  these  business 
women  are  masculine  in  their  dispositions  and  they 
become  more  so  as  the  unnatural  calling  continues  to 
be  pursued. 


298     The  Farm  Girl's  Preparation  for  a  Vocation 

A   COLLEGE   COURSE  FOR  THE  GIRL 

At  first  thought  it  would  seem  that  ability  to  pre- 
pare a  good  meal  and  to  do  her  own  sewing  might 
constitute  all  the  education  in  household  economy 
necessary  for  any  young  woman.  But  such  proves 
not  to  be  the  case.  There  are  hundreds  of  home- 
making  problems,  great  and  small,  for  which  mere 
knowledge  of  the  two  important  affairs  just  named 
will  provide  no  answer.  While  the  ability  to  cook 
and  sew  well  are  doubtless  essential  characteristics 
of  the  good  housekeeper,  they  are  not  at  all  a  guar- 
antee that  their  possessor  is  a  good  home  maker. 

Parents  must  learn  to  take  the  larger  and  more 
liberal  view  of  the  future  of  their  children.  Not 
merely  practice  in  the  culinary  art,  but  also  a  de- 
veloped and  refined  personality ;  not  merely  indus- 
trial efficiency,  but  also  constructive  ability  of  a 
social  nature ;  not  merely  mechanical  skill  in  man- 
aging the  details  of  housework,  but  a  set  of  well- 
matured,  effective  plans  for  making  the  home  over 
which  she  presides  a  place  of  joy  and  contentment 
for  the  other  members  of  the  family  —  these  are 
some  of  the  evidences  of  character  which  the  wise, 
far-seeing  parent  might  well  desire  for  his  daughter. 
Now,  it  is  the  thesis  of  this  chapter  that  the  normal 
woman  is  at  her  best  only  when  she  has  become  mis- 
tress of  her  own  well-managed  household.  But  such 
an  exalted  position  can  scarcely  be  reached  except 
through  a  broad,  general  course  of  preparation. 


The  Culture  Subjects  299 

The  one-sided,  classical  college  training  has  spoiled 
for  life  many  otherwise  good  and  happy  women. 
Such  a  course  tends  strongly  to  draw  the  mind  and 
the  affections  of  the  young  woman  away  from  the 
home  and  from  motherhood  and  other  such  matters 
so  fundamental  to  the  well-being  of  the  race.  But  in 
seeking  for  an  ideal  school  for  the  daughter  the  farmer 
will  find  unsurpassed  that  institution  which  offers 
extensive  courses  in  household  art  and  management, 
supplemented  fully  with  work  in  the  so-called  culture 
subjects  —  language,  literature,  history,  sociology, 
psychology,  and  economics.  This  work  constitutes 
what  might  be  called  a  balanced  schedule  of  instruc- 
tion for  the  young  woman.  If  pursued  to  its  con- 
clusion, such  a  course  of  training  enriches  her  per- 
sonality and  multiplies  her  opportunities  for  future 
usefulness  many  fold. 

Associations  with  refined  young  men 

If  the  young  woman's  preparation  for  her  life  work 
be  satisfactory  to  all,  she  must  have  extensive  expe- 
rience in  the  society  of  young  men  such  as  only  the 
co-educational  college  can  give.  As  her  position  in 
the  rural  home  has  been  already  too  much  isolated, 
an  exclusive  women's  college  is  least  to  be  desired  as 
a  place  to  educate  the  country  girl.  But  the  domes- 
tic science  course  in  a  state  university  or  a  state  agri- 
cultural college  will  be  found  almost  ideal.  Here  the 
girl  may  be  held  to  a  reasonable  performance  of  her 


300    The  Farm  Girl's  Preparation  for  a  Vocation 

assigned  duties,  while  at  the  same  time  she  may 
mingle  freely  in  the  society  of  both  sexes. 

Indeed,  if  the  thesis  of  this  chapter  be  a  sound  and 
tenable  one,  —  namely,  that  normally  woman's  high- 
est satisfaction  is  to  be  sought  through  helping  her 
attain  efficient  home  life,  —  then,  there  is  every  reason 
for  agreeing  with  the  late  Professor  James  in  his 
contention  that  every  young  woman  ought  to  be 
taught  how  to  know  a  good  man.  It  is  distinctively 
the  business  of  the  young  college  woman,  not  only  to 
prepare  well  all  her  lessons  in  household  economy 
and  the  literary  subjects,  but  also  to  keep  her  eye 
out  for  a  suitable  life  companion.  And  her  father 
should  be  made  to  realize  that  her  opportunities  for 
marrying  a  man  of  high  worth  and  ability  are  in- 
creased many  fold  through  the  completion  of  a  course 
in  the  ideal  form  of  co-educational  college. 

Marriages  among  college  mates  are  usually  most 
successful,  both  in  the  final  establishment  of  sub- 
stantial home  life  and  in  point  of  resulting  in  a  rea- 
sonable number  of  well-reared  children.  Statistics 
gathered  widely  show  that  the  young  woman  college 
graduate  marries  somewhat  later  than  her  non- 
attending  sister,  that  she  has  slightly  better  health, 
that  her  children  are  somewhat  fewer,  but  better 

reared. 

Make  the  daughter  attractive 

It  may  therefore  be  urged  upon  all  rural  parents, 
as  a  cold  business  proposition,  as  well  as  a  duty,  that 


Plate  XXXI. 


Make  the  Daughter  Attractive  301 

they  take  every  reasonable  precaution  to  develop  in 
their  growing  daughters  both  an  attractive  personal- 
ity and  a  beauty  of  the  inner  character,  whether  she 
be  so  fortunate  as  to  attend  a  good  college  or  not. 
All  this  must  be  done  with  a  thought  of  rendering 
the  daughter  as  attractive  as  possible  in  respect  to 
any  worthy  young  man  who  may  in  time  seek  her 
heart  and  hand  in  marriage.  It  is  time  for  parents 
to  cease  passing  this  thing  by  as  a  mere  piece  of  sen- 
timentalism  and  to  begin  to  do  the  fair  thing  by 
their  girls.  Why  should  it  longer  come  to  pass  in 
this  enlightened  age  that  some  parents  break  down 
the  physical  health  of  their  girls  with  the  burden  of 
over- work  and  thus  consign  them  to  a  life  of  moping 
and  bitter  disappointment  for  the  future ;  that  other 
parents  indulge  their  girls  in  the  giddy,  butterfly 
type  of  life  and  thus  blight  their  prospects  of  a  sub- 
stantial and  satisfactory  place  in  human  society  ? 

Summary  and  conclusion 

In  summarizing  and  concluding  this  chapter  we 
wish  to  remind  the  reader  of  what  has  been  said  in 
the  preceding  ones.  There  are  a  number  of  distinc- 
tive elements  that  must  be  carefully  wrought  into 
the  character  of  the  farmer's  daughter  with  a  view  to 
laying  a  substantial  foundation  for  her  future  career. 

1.  First  of  all,  the  girl's  health  must  be  kept  in 
mind.  She  must  not  have  an  overburden  of  work 
heaped  upon  her  delicate  shoulders,  nor  must  she  be 


302     The  Farm  Girl's  Preparation  for  a  Vocation 

allowed  to  expose  herself  unnecessarily  to  the  inclem- 
encies of  the  weather  so  common  in  the  ordinary 
rural  districts.  There  are  many  women  moping 
about  to-day,  ill  and  despondent  much  of  the  time 
because  of  the  negligence  of  parents  who  permitted 
them  when  growing  girls  to  wade  about  through  mud 
and  slush  and  thus  impair  permanently  their  physical 
well-being.  Many  of  the  minor  ailments  of  mature 
life  recur  habitually,  and  that  because  they  were 
permitted  to  be  acquired  when  the  organism  was 
young  and  sensitive. 

2.  The  daughter  must  be  taught  how  to  carry  on 
practically  all  the  necessary  details  of  the  housework. 
The  plain  cooking  and  sewing  and  the  general  care 
of  the  home  must  be  required  as  duties  on  the  part 
of  every  promising  girl.  It  is  especially  obligatory 
on  the  part  of  rural  parents  that  they  train  the  daugh- 
ter in  such  a  way  as  to  make  her  a  true  mistress  of 
the  household  over  which  she  may  sometime  pre- 
side. She  must  learn  through  specific  guidance  how 
to  subordinate  the  heavy  home  tasks  to  her  spiritual 
well-being. 

3.  It  is  also  essential  that  the  girl  learn  how  to 
manage  the  business  affairs  of  the  home;  espe- 
cially, how  to  purchase  the  supplies  of  the  kitchen  and 
the  larder  in  the  most  economic  fashion.  She  must 
also  learn  both  how  to  secure  her  own  personal  be- 
longings at  a  reasonable  cost  and  how  to  make  them 
serve  her  real  needs  without  unnecessary  expenditure 


The  Daughter  to  Understand  Men  303 

of  money.  It  will  be  a  great  achievement  in  her  be- 
half if  the  girl  approach  her  marriage  day  thoroughly 
imbued  with  the  thought  of  cooperating  with  her  hus- 
band in  the  general  business  of  maintaining  a  home. 

4.  We  would  remind  the  reader  again  of  the  neces- 
sity of  giving  attention  to  the  development  of  an 
attractive  personality  in  the  growing  girl.  Pleasing 
manners,  refined  expressions,  neat  and  attractive 
apparel,  kindliness  and  sympathy,  frankness  and 
straightforwardness  —  all  these  should  enter  into 
her  make-up  and  be  thought  of  as  parts  of  her  per- 
manent character.  They  will  also  go  far  toward 
winning  to  her  side  a  suitable  life  companion. 

5.  The  young  girl  on  the  farm  should  have  much 
advice  in  respect  to  the  nature  and  character  of  men. 
This  will  be  achieved  partly  through  her  well-ordered 
social  life  and  partly  through  specific  talks  from 
thoughtful  parents.  Country  girls  are  probably 
less  informed  in  respect  to  the  natures  of  men  than 
are  city  girls.  Many  beautiful  and  innocent  young 
women  are  led  astray  either  before  or  after  marriage 
by  evil  and  designing  men;  many  of  them  consum- 
mate marriages  with  men  who  have  an  outer  appear- 
ance of  trustworthiness,  but  who  harbor  within  some 
most  serious  and  insurmountable  evil  and  disease. 
Although  she  may  not  for  a  time  be  conscious  of 
what  her  parents  are  doing,  the  latter  should  be  for 
years  purposely  engaged  in  preparing  their  daughter 
to  know  at  sight  a  good  man. 


304     The  Farm  GirVs  Preparation  for  a  Vocation 

Finally,  it  may  be  said  that  there  is  no  greater 
charm  or  thing  of  more  superior  beauty  in  this  good 
world  of  ours  than  the  character  of  a  woman  who  has 
been  well-born  and  well-reared,  and  who  has  been 
safely  guided  into  the  home  of  her  own  wherein  she 
reigns  as  mistress  supreme.  In  this  ideal  home  the 
love  and  sympathy  and  the  kindly  deeds  of  the  true 
home-maker  will  reveal  themselves  permanently  in 
the  lives  of  her  children  and  her  husband  and  the 
many  others  who  come  into  contact  with  her  con- 
structive personality. 

REFERENCES 

Women's  Ways  of  Earning  Money.     Cynthia  Westover  Alden.    A.  S. 

Barnes  &  Co. 
The  Home  Builder.     Dr.  Lyman  Abbott.      Houghton,  Mifflin  Company. 

Sympathetic  and  cheering. 
Almost  a  Woman.    Mary  Wood  Allen,  M.D.     Crist,  Scott  &  Parshall, 

Coopertown,  N.Y.    A  plain  talk  to  the  young  woman  about  her 

sex  nature. 
The  Problem  of  Vocational  Education.     David  Snedden,  Ph.D.     Chapter 

XII,  "The  Problem  of  Women  in  Industry."    Houghton,  Mifflin 

Company. 
The  Vocational  Guidance  of  Youth.     Meyer  Bloomfield.     Chapter  I, 

"The  Choice  of  Life  Work  and  its  Difficulties."  Houghton,  Mifflin 

Company. 
Parenthood  and  Race  Culture.     Charles  W.  Saleeby  M.D.     Chapter  X, 

"Marriage  and  Maternalism."     Moffat,  Yard  &  Co.,  New  York. 
Should    Women    work    for   their    Living?    M.    Yates.     Westminster 

Review,  October,  1910. 
Social  Diseases  and  Marriage.     Educational  Pamphlet,  No.  S.    Amer- 
ican Society  of  Sanitary  and  Moral  Prophylaxis,  New  York.     10 

cents.    Every  parent  should  read  this  booklet 


Literature  on  Women's  Vocations  305 

Vocational  Training  for  Girls.  Isabelle  McGlaufin.  Education,  April, 
1911. 

A  Healthy  Race;  Woman's  Vocation.  C.  M.  Hill.  Westminster  Re- 
view, January,  1910. 

Social  Adjustment.  S.  Nearing.  Pages  128-148,  "Dependence  of 
Women."    Macmillan. 

Purposes  of  Women.     F.  W.  Saleeby,  M.D.    Forum,    January,  1911. 

Does  the  College  rob  the  Cradle?     H.  Boice.     Delineator,  March,  1911. 

The  College  Woman  as  a  Home  Maker.  M.  E.  Wooley.  Ladies'  Home 
Journal,  Oct.  1,  1910. 

The  American  Woman  and  her  Home.  Symposium.  Outlook,  April  17, 
1910. 

Teaching  the  Girl  to  Save.  Home-Training  Bulletin  No.  7.  2  cents. 
Wm.  A.  McKeever,  Manhattan,  Kan. 


CHAPTER  XX 

CONCLUSION,  AND  FUTURE  OUTLOOK 

In  concluding  this  volume  we  wish  again  to  remind 
parents  of  the  necessity  of  working  for  specific  results 
in  the  rearing  of  their  children.  Modern  man,  unlike 
his  ancestor,  who  roamed  over  the  earth,  is  a  creature 
of  complex  and  highly  refined  make-up  which  no 
primitive  or  natural  environment  could  possibly 
produce.  The  forces  that  work  upon  his  character 
development  are  so  radically  different  from  those 
which  formed  the  life  of  his  remote  forbears  as  pos- 
sibly to  account  for  the  contrasts  in  the  two  forms 
of  finished  personality. 

Although  there  is  evidence  to  support  the  theory 
that  man  belongs  to  the  general  evolutionary  scheme 
of  animal  life,  the  progress  of  the  race  has  been  so 
very  slow  that  a  thousand  years  of  time  can  show  no 
very  distinct  improvement  either  in  physical  form  or 
mental  quality.  While  the  human  young  is  exceed- 
ingly plastic  as  an  individual,  —  yielding  easily  from 
one  side  of  his  inherent  activities  to  another,  —  the 
race  is  relatively  fixed  and  stable. 

Strive  for  preconceived  results 

Parents  and  other  instructors  of  the  young  must 
therefore  accept  their  charges  as  made  up  of  very  com- 

306 


A  Plan  of  Character  Building  307 

plex  potentialities  of  learning  and  achievement  — 
each  a  bundle  of  latent  characters  transmitted  to 
him  from  the  ancestral  line.  Many  of  these  inherited 
characters  are  too  weak  in  any  given  individual  ever 
to  show  in  his  life  conduct ;  many  others  will  come 
to  the  surface  only  in  response  to  proper  stimuli  and 
practice ;  still  others  will  break  out  and  show  a  pre- 
dominance almost  in  defiance  of  any  training  in- 
tended to  counteract  them. 

But  the  teacher  and  trainer  of  the  infant  child  may 
accept  the  theory  that  the  latter,  if  taken  in  time,  can 
be  bent  and  modified  many  ways  in  his  character 
formation;  that  such  plasticity  is,  however,  always 
subject  to  the  relative  strength  or  weakness  of  the 
many  inherited  aptitudes  and  activities  latent  within 
the  individual. 

There  is  no  good  reason,  therefore,  why  the  parent 
should  not  begin  early  to  build  up  the  character  of 
his  child  in  accordance  with  a  preconceived  plan; 
provided  such  plan  do  no  violence  to  any  of  nature's 
stubborn  and  inexorable  laws.  The  parent  may  also 
accept  this  task  as  a  long  and  tedious  undertaking, 
and  expect  to  get  results  in  proportion  as  he  works 
intelligently  for  them.  The  farmer  does  not  even 
think  of  producing  good  crop  results  from  his  land 
without  hard  work  and  much  thought;  then,  why 
should  he  expect  so  delicate  a  plant  as  the  human 
young  to  reach  satisfactory  maturity  without  much 
care  and  consideration  ?  By  far  the  greatest  sin 
against  the  child  is  neglect  of  his  training. 


308  Conclusion,  and  Future  Outlook 

Consult  expert  advice 

We  must  not  be  unmindful  of  the  necessity  of  a 
balanced  schedule  of  activities  for  the  child.  The 
vegetable  plant  must  have  air,  sunlight,  moisture, 
nitrogen,  and  so  on,  to  support  its  growth.  If  one 
of  these  essential  elements  be  lacking,  the  result  is 
fatal  to  the  fruitage.  So  with  the  child.  If  the  best 
character  results  are  to  be  expected,  certain  essential 
elements  must  be  put  into  use.  We  have  named 
them  as  play,  work,  recreation,  and  social  experience. 
But  as  one  approaches  the  individual  problem  of  child 
training  it  does  not  prove  so  simple  and  easy  as  these 
terms  imply.  When  and  how  to  give  each  of  these 
necessary  exercises,  how  much  of  each  to  furnish, 
the  means  thereof,  and  the  like  —  these  and  many 
other  such  questions  begin  to  arise. 

When  the  parent  reaches  the  point  of  perplexity  in 
dealing  with  his  child,  it  is  a  fairly  good  indication 
that  his  interest  is  aroused,  at  least.  But  what  is  to 
be  done  ?  Simply  the  same  thing  he  would  do  at  the 
point  of  perplexity  in  the  wheat  propagation,  consult 
an  expert.  If  one  of  the  work  mules  becomes  lame  or 
reveals  a  bad  disposition,  should  the  owner  take  it  to 
an  electrician  for  advice  ?  If  the  family  cow  becomes 
locoed  or  shows  an  unusual  result  in  her  milk  product, 
should  one  consult  a  piano  tuner  ?  Yet,  strange  to 
say,  parents  are  often  known  to  do  similarly  in  deal- 
ing with  the  perplexing  problems  of  child-rearing. 


Studying  the  Child  309 

Consult  the  popular  magazines  and  the  book  shelves 
any  day  and  you  will  find  many  lengthy  dissertations 
on  the  boy  and  the  girl,  written  not  infrequently  by 
persons  who  have  spent  a  lifetime  studying  something 
else.  But  they  are  very  fond  of  children  and  they 
mistake  this  fondness  for  knowledge  of  an  expert 
kind ;  and  worst  of  all,  they  offer  it  as  such. 

The  farm  parents  who  wish  to  receive  expert  advice 
in  the  treatment  of  their  children  must  learn  to  con- 
sult directly  or  through  literature  only  those  who 
have  made  a  long  and  intensive  study  of  child  prob- 
lems. And  in  the  latter  case  they  need  not  expect 
to  obtain  all  necessary  help  from  one  source  alone. 
Usually  the  child-study  expert  is  a  specialist  in  only 
one  certain  part  of  the  field.  For  example,  at  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania  under  Dr.  Lightner  Wit- 
mer,  there  has  been  made  a  specialty  of  the  sub- 
normal child.  We  should  probably  obtain  from  that 
source  more  expert  help  in  that  one  phase  of  child 
welfare  than  from  any  other  source  in  America.  If 
one  wishes  reliable  help  on  the  subject  of  diseases  of 
children,  he  should  naturally  expect  to  obtain  it  from 
some  medical  authority,  from  one  who  has  spent  long 
years  practicing  in  a  general  hospital  for  children. 
One  of  the  very  few  great  sources  of  information  on 
the  general  psychology  of  child  development  is  Clark 
University,  where  many  child-welfare  problems  have 
been  worked  out  by  experts  under  the  able  direction 
of  Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall. 


310  Conclusion,  and  Future  Outlook 

Meet  each  awakening  interest 

A  very  reliable  general  rule  of  guidance  for  the 
parent  child  trainer  is  to  strive  to  furnish  intensive 
practice  for  each  and  every  childish  and  juvenile 
interest  at  the  time  of  its  awakening.  As  stated  in 
Chapter  II  the  most  predominant  interests  in  the 
young  emerge  in  response  to  the  unfoldment  of  in- 
stincts and  the  development  of  organic  growths 
within.  Perhaps  all  do  so.  But  the  point  of  im- 
portance for  the  parent  is  to  meet  each  of  these  awak- 
enings at  the  time  of  its  highest  activity  with  inten- 
sive training.  The  instinct  to  play,  to  fight,  to  steal, 
to  run  away,  to  work  ( ?),  to  fall  in  love,  to  engage 
in  some  occupation,  to  marry  and  make  a  home,  to 
have  children  —  these  have  been  named  as  espe- 
cially important  by  virtue  of  their  awakening  suc- 
cessively the  individual's  interests  in  matters  of  great 
consequence  to  character  development. 

But  instincts  are  blind.  Their  possessor  does  not 
foresee  the  way  they  point.  They  come  suddenly 
and  catch  the  subject  unprepared  to  direct  their  force 
in  what  we  call  intelligent  ways.  Hence,  the  extreme 
necessity  of  there  being  present  at  the  side  of  the 
child,  at  the  time  of  his  instinctive  awakening,  some 
mature  and  intelligent  person  who  has  been  through 
the  experiences  the  former  is  about  to  begin,  and  who 
will  sympathetically  point  the  right  way  and  insist 
that  it  be  followed. 


Learning  from  the  Children  311 

Work  for  social  democracy 

One  can  scarcely  become  deeply  interested  in  the 
future  of  his  own  child  without  coming  intimately 
into  touch  with  the  child  welfare  problems  at  large. 
Even  country  parents,  isolated  though  they  may  be, 
will  discover  that  serious  study  of  the  matter  of 
bringing  up  a  family  of  good  children  will  require 
that  they  study  the  lives  of  other  human  young. 
Moreover,  they  will  need  the  use  of  other  children  as 
"laboratory"  material  for  training  their  own.  All 
this  will  gradually  lead  the  way  to  a  fuller  social 
sympathy  in  such  parents  and  to  the  inculcation  of 
more  wholesome  social  ideals  in  the  minds  of  their 
offspring. 

Finally,  the  rural  parents  who  are  seeking  a  full 
and  adequate  development  of  the  young  members  of 
their  own  family  will  most  probably  see  their  way 
clear  to  assume  a  helpful  leadership  of  the  young 
people  of  the  neighborhood  as  advocated  in  Chap- 
ter X  of  this  volume. 

While  many  agencies  for  the  betterment  of  rural 
youth  have  been  discussed,  —  such  as  the  County 
Y.M.C.A.,  the  Boy  Scout  Movement,  and  the  Social 
and  Economic  Clubs,  —  the  neighborhood  which  has 
at  least  one  of  these  agencies  intensively  at  work  may 
be  considered  fortunate.  And  it  may  be  said  that 
such  a  neighborhood  is  well  on  the  way  to  economic 
improvement  as  well  as  social  improvement. 


312  Conclusion,  and  Future  Outlook 

The  outlook  very  promising 

Throughout  the  United  States  there  is  being  mani- 
fested a  general  tendency  to  accept  the  theory  that 
our  human  stock  is  relatively  sound.  While  there 
are  seemingly  large  numbers  of  the  criminal,  delin- 
quent, and  dependent  classes,  they  are  in  reality 
comparatively  few  in  proportion  to  the  entire  popu- 
lation. And  when  we  accept  the  estimate  of  the 
experts  that  about  ninety  per  cent  of  the  cases  included 
in  the  classes  just  named  are  preventable  through 
wise  foresight  and  training,  the  outlook  for  a  better 
race  of  human  beings  becomes  most  cheering. 

"The  proper  study  of  mankind  is  man,"  says  the 
poet.  But  for  many  generations  we  have  regarded 
this  statement  as  mere  poetry  and  not  necessarily 
truth.  Our  policy  up  to  the  recent  past  has  been 
rather  this :  The  proper  study  of  mankind  is  every- 
thing except  man,  leaving  the  all-important  problems 
of  child-rearing  to  the  decisions  of  wise  old  grand- 
mothers and  debating  societies.  But  a  radical  change 
has  come,  and  that  within  this  present  generation. 
Men  and  women  highly  trained  in  the  colleges  and 
universities  are  now  applying  their  scientific  methods 
to  the  study  of  man  with  no  less  zeal  and  earnestness 
than  that  which  has  characterized  the  student  of  the 
non-human  problems  for  many  generations  of  time. 

Through  the  able  conclusions  of  the  painstaking 
expert  the  so-called  institutional  life  has  been  espe- 


Plate  XXXII. 


ktt    - 

■•- 

^a| 

$  ft 

(p*^ 

.^H 

Fig.  39.  — Sowing  the  seed,  all  by  herself. 


Fig.  40.  —  Thinning  the  vegetables. 
New  York  Scenes. 


Institutional  Life  Improving  313 

cially  improved.  The  industrial  (reform)  schools  are 
now  practicing  a  system  of  balanced  activities  —  of 
study,  work,  play,  and  the  like  —  such  as  the  findings 
of  these  investigators  have  warranted.  The  method 
of  paroling  the  delinquent  child,  after  he  has  spent 
a  term  of  preparation,  was  proved  most  helpful 
through  the  careful  tests  of  a  large  number  of  cases. 
Recently  the  parole  system  has  been  effectively 
applied  to  certain  classes  of  penitentiary  convicts.  A 
most  productive  agency  for  good  now  in  use  in  many 
of  the  prisons  and  all  the  industrial  schools  is  that  of 
building  up  the  waste  places  in  the  individual  life 
through  specific  training  and  instruction.  The  first 
question  raised  in  such  cases  is,  What  is  the  particu- 
lar moral  defect  of  the  individual  ?  second,  What 
are  the  causes  ?  third,  What  will  reconstruct  his 
character  and  give  permanent  relief?  That  is,  the 
expert  psychologist  and  the  expert  sociologist  are 
being  called  into  service  with  the  expert  alienist 
and  physician.  The  purpose  is  to  save  and  recon- 
struct the  whole  man.  Compulsory  education  and 
trade  schooling  are  now  very  common  in  state  prisons. 
In  the  care  and  protection  of  the  insane  and  the 
feeble-minded  our  country  can  boast  of  but  slow 
progress.  Many  of  the  members  of  these  classes  are 
permitted  to  run  at  large  and  even  to  marry  and  beget 
their  kind.  Now,  while  our  human  stock  is  in  its 
mass  very  sound  and  sane,  there  are  constantly  being 
thrown  off  from  it  these  mentally  defective  classes. 


314  Conclusion,  and  Future  Outlook 

The  complete  obliteration  of  all  such  classes  to-day 
would  not  result  in  their  complete  disappearance  from 
the  race.  Others  would  be  born  as  variants  from 
normal  parentage.  But  the  evil  of  it  all  lies  in  the 
fact  that  we  are  still  permitting  many  of  these  de- 
fectives to  multiply,  and  that  in  the  face  of  the  fact 
that  a  normal  child  has  never  been  reported  among 
the  offspring  of  two  feeble-minded  parents. 

The  modern  service  training 

Of  all  the  institutions  contributing  to  the  direct 
improvement  of  the  race  there  is  perhaps  none 
surpassing  in  importance  the  modern  training  school 
for  social  workers.  In  New  York,  Chicago,  Phila- 
delphia, St.  Louis,  and  other  large  cities  such  may  be 
found  usually  affiliated  with  some  university  or  col- 
lege. The  general  purpose  is  that  of  training  men  and 
women  to  go  into  the  field  of  social  service  and  apply 
the  methods  and  conclusions  worked  out  by  the  re- 
search student.  Hitherto,  much  of  the  social  work 
has  been  conducted  by  persons  possessing  merely 
religious  zeal  and  enthusiasm.  Their  efforts  were 
praiseworthy,  but  they  lacked  the  training  necessary 
for  coping  with  modern  educational  and  economic 
problems.  The  distinctive  feature  of  the  new  meth- 
ods is  that  it  is  based  on  scientific  and  business  prin- 
ciples. That  is,  the  social  worker  is  trained  in  the 
same  methodical  way  as  the  prospective  lawyer  or 
school  teacher,  and  is  also  paid  reasonably  for  his 
services. 


Problems  for  the  Investigator  315 

The  modern  social  worker  not  only  proceeds  with  a 
well-defined  plan,  but  he  usually  makes  or  requires  a 
survey  of  his  newly-opened  field.  The  social  sur- 
vey —  now  becoming  more  common  as  a  means  of 
beginning  a  campaign  of  improvement  in  the  cities  — 
has  revealed  some  most  interesting,  as  well  as  dis- 
tressing, situations  in  the  submerged  districts.  The 
housing  situation,  sanitary  conditions,  wages  and 
incomes  of  different  classes,  sweat-shop  employment, 
the  protection  of  workmen  in  shops  and  factories, 
child-labor  conditions,  and  so  on  —  these  are  exam- 
ples of  the  problems  of  the  investigator,  while  his 
tabulated  reports  serve  to  guide  the  social  worker. 
Now,  the  duties  of  the  latter  are  many,  but  in  general 
they  lie  in  the  direction  of  improvement  of  the  condi- 
tions as  found.  Among  the  undertakings  that  often 
fall  to  his  lot  are :  establishing  new  social  centers  in 
congested  districts,  providing  for  new  parks  and  play- 
grounds, locating  reading  and  recreation  rooms, 
organizing  self-help  and  home-improvement  clubs 
among  the  lower  classes,  conducting  cooking  and 
sewing  schools,  and  the  like. 

Of  special  interest  to  the  rural  dweller  is  the  fact 
that  the  modern  methods  of  first  making  surveys 
and  then  applying  remedial  agencies  is  now  being 
extended  into  the  country  districts,  giving  many 
marked  results  already  and  promising  greater  ones 
for  the  future. 


316  Conclusion,  and  Future  Outlook 

The  state  doing  its  part 

That  the  nation  and  the  state  are  active  partici- 
pants in  these  new  forms  of  child-conserving  and 
man-saving  endeavor  is  indicated  on  every  side. 

The  national  government  has  encouraged  the  states 
in  the  enactment  of  stringent  child-labor  laws.  In 
the  usual  instance  children  under  fourteen  to  sixteen 
years  of  age  are  prohibited  from  working  away  from 
home  at  gainful  occupations.  Correlated  with  this 
is  the  compulsory-education  law  in  the  several  states. 

The  national  and  state  governments  have  also 
cooperated  in  the  enactment  of  laws  prohibiting  the 
adulteration  of  foods  and  foodstuffs  and  in  enforcing 
better  sanitation.  As  a  result  of  such  measures,  state 
and  local,  together  with  the  help  of  greatly  improved 
hospital  practice,  the  infant  mortality  in  several  of 
the  large  cities  has  been  reduced  more  than  fifty 
per  cent  in  the  past  decade. 

Inspired  by  the  splendid  pioneer  work  of  the 
National  Playground  Association,  the  cities  and  towns 
have  recently  made  very  rapid  progress  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  playgrounds  and  recreative  centers  for 
old  and  young.  Many  millions  of  dollars  have  al- 
ready been  expended  for  such  purposes.  Now  the 
country  districts  are  adopting  the  same  means  of 
social  improvement. 

The  primary  system  of  selecting  candidates  for 
political  office  is  proving  to  be  a  most  potent  agency 


Lessons  on  Social  Purity  317 

for  the  general  uplift.  By  means  of  it,  better  men 
are  being  inducted  into  office.  Better  still,  the  old 
corrupt  practice  of  the  ward  politician,  so  deleterious 
to  the  character  of  youth,  is  losing  its  once  powerful 
influence  on  government. 

The  so-called  social  evil,  so  damaging  to  the  health 
and  morals  of  thousands  of  our  best  young  men  and 
young  women,  is  now  under  fair  promise  of  improve- 
ment. The  remarkable  survey  of  the  Chicago  Vice 
Commission  and  the  work  of  the  other  well-planned 
organizations  looking  to  the  solution  of  the  same 
general  problem  have  proved  most  effective  in  reveal- 
ing the  true  conditions  and  of  awakening  the  public 
conscience.  All  of  these  activities  in  the  interest  of 
putting  down  the  sex  evils  point  very  clearly  one 
moral  to  all  conscientious  parents ;  namely,  that  the 
best  and  most  certain  method  of  inculcating  lessons 
of  purity  in  the  case  of  the  young  is  through  preven- 
tive measures,  and  through  the  practice  of  purity 
during  the  years  of  growth.  Open  and  frank  discus- 
sion of  the  sex  problems  as  they  arise  normally  out 
of  the  experiences  of  the  child,  admonitions  and  pro- 
hibitions in  regard  to  impure  associates,  the  insistence 
upon  a  single,  and  not  a  double,  standard  of  purity 
for  the  two  sexes  —  these  are  some  of  the  specific 
duties  of  parents. 

As  an  instance  of  what  may  be  achieved  by  way  of 
helping  the  weak  and  depraved  to  defend  themselves 
against  debasing  habit,  and  especially  of  what  may  be 


318  Conclusion,  and  Future  Outlook 

done  by  way  of  prevention  of  a  character-destroying 
habit  in  time  of  youth,  the  Kansas  prohibitory  law  is 
cited.  The  longer  this  statute  remains,  the  more 
effective  its  work  and  the  more  unanimous  the  public 
sentiment  supporting  it.  So  popular  has  this  meas- 
ure become  that  no  political  party  and  no  faction  of 
any  other  class  has  been  able  to  take  any  effective 
stand  against  it.  It  can  be  shown  to  any  fair-minded 
investigator  that  the  great  majority  of  the  citizens 
of  Kansas  are  total  abstainers  from  the  use  of  in- 
toxicants ;  also  that  the  state  has  brought  up  a  new 
generation  of  tens  of  thousands  of  men,  now  mostly 
voters,  who  have  no  personal  knowledge  of  the  use 
and  abuse  of  alcoholic  drinks  and  who  have  become 
confirmed  as  total  abstainers  for  life. 

Another  unique  Kansas  measure  —  ignored  and 
derided  at  first  only  less  than  was  the  prohibitory 
liquor  law  when  new  —  is  the  statute  forbidding  the 
use  of  tobacco  in  any  form  on  the  part  of  minors. 
The  wisdom  of  this  statute  is  supported  by  the  con- 
clusions of  scientific  study  of  the  effects  of  tobacco 
on  the  young.  The  general  purpose  of  the  law  is  to 
prevent  the  youth  from  taking  up  the  tobacco-using 
habit  before  reaching  full  maturity  of  years  and 
judgment.  The  general  result  will  be  the  gradual 
development  of  a  generation  of  total  abstainers  from 
the  use  of  tobacco. 


Constructive  Social  Work  319 

The  new  era  of  religion 

Even  into  the  sanctuary  of  the  modern  church  is 
the  new  scientific  spirit  finding  its  way.  It  has  be- 
come an  accepted  principle  of  procedure  among 
ministers  and  other  church  workers  of  late  that  the 
best  way  to  save  souls  is  not  to  depend  wholly  upon 
divine  grace,  but  to  assist  this  subtle  power  by  means 
of  the  constructive  work  of  many  human  agencies. 
Preventive  measures  that  aim  at  safeguarding  the 
young  against  evil  contaminations,  the  institution  of. 
social  improvement  organizations  and  of  literary  and 
economic  clubs,  the  formation  of  good-fellowship 
societies,  of  societies  for  conducting  social  surveys, 
of  committees  for  giving  vocational  guidance  and  for 
the  administration  of  spiritual  healing  —  these  and 
numerous  endeavors  of  the  same  class  give  evidence 
of  the  great  service  which  the  modern  church  is 
rendering  young  humanity.  And  all  this  splendid 
work  is  being  carried  forward  without  doing  any 
violence  to  the  essential  doctrines  of  the  great  his- 
torical institution  so  long  engaged  in  its  serious  efforts 
in  behalf  of  human  salvation. 

Final  conclusion 

As  a  closing  remark  the  author  can  only  express 
again  his  belief  that  no  past  age  ever  held  out  such 
inspiring  hope  and  such  splendid  encouragement  to 
the  many  parents  who  appreciate  the  needs  of  intelli- 


320  Conclusion,  and  Future  Outlook 

gent  care  and  training  for  their  children.  And  be- 
cause of  the  natural  advantages  of  the  surroundings, 
country  parents  have  the  greatest  justification  of  all 
for  being  enthusiastic  over  the  outlook.  Now,  let 
them  go  patiently  and  reverently  at  the  work  of 
bringing  up  for  the  service  of  the  world  a  magnifi- 
cent race  of  men  and  women  —  men  who  have  brain 
and  brawn  and  moral  courage  and  religious  devotion ; 
women  who  have  a  profound  sense  of  maternal  re- 
sponsibility, an  inspiring  superiority  over  the  per- 
plexing duties  of  the  household,  a  deep  and  far- 
reaching  social  sympathy,  and  such  a  poise  and  sub- 
limity of  thought  as  to  reveal  the  divinity  inherent  in 
their  characters.  For  lo  !  In  the  hidden  depths  of 
the  natures  of  the  common  boys  and  girls  there  lie 
slumbering  these  splendid  possibilities  ! 

REFERENCES 

The  Meaning  of  Social  Science.  Albion  W.  Small.  University  of  Chi- 
cago Press.  An  epoch-making  book,  restating  ably  the  general 
problem  of  social  reconstruction. 

Report  of  Committee  on  Rural  Social  Problems,  National  Conference 
Charities  and  Corrections.  Address  Porter  R.  Lee,  Sec'y  for  Or- 
ganizing Charity,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Annual  Report  Association  for  Study  and  Prevention  of  Infant  Mortality, 
1211  Cathedral  Street,  Baltimore. 

Government  Report  on  Children  as  Wage-earners.  Department  of 
Commerce  and  Labor,  Washington,  D.C.  This  department  is 
bringing  out  nineteen  volumes  in  all,  each  covering  a  particular 
problem  of  women  and  children  as  wage-earners.  The  following  are 
especially  related  to  the  subject  matter  of  this  chapter :  — 


Literature  on  Social  Work  321 

The  Beginnings  of  Child  Labor  Legislation  in  Certain  States; 

A  Comparative  Study. 
Conditions  under  which  Children  leave  School  to  go  to  Work. 
Juvenile  Delinquency  and  its  Relation  to  Employment. 
Causes  of  Death  among  Women  and  Child  Cotton  Mill  Operatives. 
Family  Budgets  of  Typical  Cotton  Mill  Workers. 
Hook  Worm  Disease  among  Cotton  Mill  Operatives. 
Employment  of  Women  and  Children  in  Selected  Industries. 
Reports  and  Circulars  National  Christian  League  for  Promotion 
of  Purity,  5  East  12th  Street,  New  York. 
Annual  Report  of  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections,  1911. 
Charities  Publication  Committee,  New  York.   See  this  valuable  vol- 
ume for  reports  of  progress  in  the  different  lines  of  child-welfare  effort. 
The  White  Slave  Traffic.     Outlook,  July  16,  1910. 
The  Rockefeller  Grand  Jury  Report  of  White  Slave  Traffic.    McClure, 

May,  August,  1910. 
Moral  Research  in  Social  and  Economic  Problems.    G.  Connell.     West- 
minster Review,  February,  1910. 
My  Lesson  from  the  Juvenile  Court.    Judge  Ben.  B.  Lindsey.     Survey, 
Feb.  5,  1910. 


INDEX 


Acquired  characters,  not  trans- 
missible, 7. 

Agricultural  education,  money 
value  of,  286. 

Agriculture,  as  a  rural  school  sub- 
ject, 120  ff. 

Anger,  a  healthful  instinct,  16; 
right  treatment  of,  17  f. 

Aristocracy,  fostered  in  the  schools, 
103,  104. 

Bank  account,  necessary  for  boys, 

223. 
Bill,  Arthur  J.,  231. 
Boardman,   John  R.,   advocate  of 

rural  play,  156. 
Books,  for  children,  how  to  choose, 

74 ;    a  selected  list,  75  ff . ;    on 

child-rearing,  79,  80. 
Boys,     bad     companionships     for, 

202  f. 
Boy  Scouts  Movement,  311. 
Boy    Scouts,     Professor    Holton's 

definition     of,     165 ;      how     to 

organize,     165    f. ;     in    Kansas, 

166  ff. 
Boys  leave  the  farm,  why,  62,  63. 
Bread-making  clubs,  150  f. 
Bread-winning,  cultural,  3. 
Building  site,  suited  to  children,  58. 
Business  career,  instinct  for,  24. 
Business,    training    for    farm    boy, 

220  ff. ;  finding  the  boy's  interest 

in,  221  f. ;   dealing  fair  with  the 

boy  in,  225. 
Butterfield,  President  Kenyon  L. 

149,  161. 

Character-building,  agencies  of, 
26  ff. ;  must  go  on  with  schooling, 
90  f. ;  requires  religious  training, 
94. 

Chicago  Vice  Commission,  317. 


Child-rearing,  rural,  90  ff. 

Children's  hour,  recommended  for 
evening,  67. 

Children's  room,  good  illustration 
of,  64  f. 

Child  study,  a  necessity,  308  ff. 

Cigarettes,  law  against,  in  Kansas, 
318. 

College  education,  for  farm  boy, 
283  f. 

Compulsory  education,  now  gene- 
ral, 251. 

Consolidation  of  rural  schools, 
illustrated,  109,  123. 

Cornell  University,  model  rural 
school,  115  ff. 

Cornell  University,  286. 

Corn-plowing,  may  be  divine  call- 
ing, 98. 

Corn-raising  clubs,  150  f. 

Corn  Sunday,  in  rural  church,  95. 

Country  boy,  the  right  schooling 
for,  250  ff. ;  his  interest  in  hu- 
manity, 259 ;  must  know  cur- 
rent affairs,  260. 

Country  church  at  Plainfield,  111., 
87;  at  Ogden,  Kan.,  87,  92; 
Commission  management  of,  88 ; 
too  narrow,  92 ;  as  social  center, 
94  ff. ;  at  Danbury,  N.  H.,  96 ; 
at  Lincoln,  Vt.,  96;  federated 
society  in,  96. 

Country  dwelling,  its  relation  to 
juvenile  character,  54  ff. ;  plan 
it  for  the  children,  56,  57. 

Country  girl,  business  training  for, 
255  ff. ;  why  she  leaves  home, 
236  f . ;  rules  for  training  in  busi- 
ness, 239;  not  to  be  a  money- 
maker, 247;  earning  money  in 
the  South,  249 ;  schooling  for, 
262  ff. ;  to  be  taught  music, 
265  f . ;  vocation  for,  290  ff . 


323 


324 


Index 


Country  Life  Commission,  42  f., 
148. 

Country  mother,  as  teacher,  268 ; 
report  of  Country  Life  Commis- 
sion, 42 ;  conservation  of  her 
energies,  44  ff. ;  conspiring  with 
the  children,  51  f. 

Country  school,  to  be  redirected, 
152  ff. 

Crying,  good  for  infants,  14. 

Dance,  usually  degrading,  164; 
hard  to  control,  211  f. 

Department  of  Agriculture,  148. 

Dickens,  Professor  Albert,  110  f. 

Disease,  relation  to  habit,  3  ;  avoid- 
ance of  by  care,  3. 

Domestic  economy,  for  girls,  298  f . ; 
in  the  rural  school,  122. 

Exhibitions,  by  rural  Y.M.C.A., 
139  f. 

Fairchild,  Supt.  E.  T.,  108  f.,  118. 
Farm  barn,  not  to  be  better  than 

the  dwelling,  62. 
Farmer's  Voice,  60,  73. 
Farm  girls,  danger  of  overworking, 

182  f. ;  working  in  the  field,  188 ; 

sometimes    misjudged,     190    f. ; 

work  schedule  difficult  to  make, 

191 ;   and  self-supremacy,  192  f. ; 

social  companions  for,  201. 
Fear,  nature  and  purpose  of,  18,  19. 
Federation     for     country    life    in 

Illinois,   161  f. 

Good  health,  fundamental  to  devel- 
opment, 3. 
Good  life,  definition,  2. 

Hall,  Dr.  G.  Stanley,  309. 
Happiness,  a  part  of  the  good  life, 

6 ;  how  obtained,  6. 
High  school,  rural  provisions  for, 

124  f. 
Holton,   Professor   E.    L.   on   Boy 

Scouts,  165. 
Home  conveniences,   necessity  for 

farm  women,  47. 


Home  life  education,  270. 

Home    sanitation,     in    the    rural 

school,  122. 
"Homing"  instinct,  22. 
House  help,   training  the  children 

for,  49. 
Human  stock,  mostly  sound,  7,  8 ; 

potentially  good,  9. 
Humble  parentage  and  leadership,  9. 

Instincts,  of  children  to  be  studied, 
310 ;  two  are  fundamental,  12 ; 
related  to  impulse,  14 ;  for  home 
life,  23  ;   for  business,  24. 

James,  Professor  William,  300. 

Kansas,  Rural  Boy  Scouts  in,  166 
ff. ;    a  boy  genius  of,  227. 

Kansas  State  Agricultural  College, 
165. 

Kirk,  President  John  R.,  quoted, 
112  f. 

Leadership,  of  fanner  and  wife, 
146  ff . ;  preparation  for,  148 ; 
in  Y.M.C.A.,  133  f. 

Library,  for  neighborhood  in  farm 
home,  155. 

Literary  Digest,  73. 

Literature,  purpose  of  in  country 
home,  69  f . ;  best  adapted  to  the 
child,  71,  72;  types  of,  72  f . ; 
on  child-rearing,  79. 

Marriage,  planning  for  the  daugh- 
ter's, 291  f . ;  to  be  studied,  300  ff. 
training  the  girl  for,  20,  21. 

McNutt,  Rev.  M.  B.,  and  his  work, 
86,  87  ;   church  built  by,  87. 

Mendel's  law,  and  human  inherit- 
ance, 8. 

Minister,  of  city  should  preach 
in  the  country,  85;  a  country 
type,  86  ff. 

Moral  strength,  an  aim  in  character- 
building,  4 ;  acquired  through 
trial  and  error,  4. 

Mothers'  club,  organization  of, 
160  f. 


Index 


325 


"  Mother's  hour,"  recommended,  46. 
Moving  to  town,   to  educate  the 

children,  36 ;    how  it  affects  the 

farmer,  36,  37. 

National  Corn  Exhibit,  230. 

Native  ability,  three  classes  of, 
251  ff. ;  how  stimulus  and  oppor- 
tunity assist,  253. 

Newspaper,  kind  for  the  farmer,  73. 

Occupations  for  women,  293  ff. 
Oklahoma     Agricultural     College, 
work  at  county  fair,  229. 

Play,  growing  interest  in,  27,  28 ; 
practical  uses  of,  28  ff. ;  an 
excellent  set  of  materials  for,  29  ; 
sharply  distinguished  from  work, 
31;  after  Sunday  School,  97; 
neighborhood  center  for,  159. 

Play  apparatus,  model  in  farm 
home,  154. 

Playground,  apparatus  for,  118  ff. ; 
for  home  and  school,  154  f. 

Playground  Association  of  Amer- 
ica, 155,  316. 

Population,  decrease  in  country,  83. 

Prohibitory  law,  in  Kansas,  318. 

Psychological  clinic,  265. 

Recreation,  meaning  of  misunder- 
stood, 33 ;  how  related  to  farm 
work,  34  ff. ;  for  rural  youth,  139. 

Religion,  the  new  era  in,  319 ; 
interest  in  a  part  of  life,  5. 

Review  of  Reviews,  73. 

Rural  manhood,  148,  156. 

Rural  school,  changes  in  view- 
point of,  102 ;  to  serve  all,  103  f. ; 
compulsory  attendance  upon, 
106 ;  model  at  Kirksville,  112. 

Rural  schoolhouse,  better  ones 
needed,  107;  location  of,  108; 
in  Kansas,  105 ;  model  at  Cor- 
nell, 115. 

Saloons,  a  menace  to  boys,  206  f . 
School  grounds,  size  and  adoption 
of,  109. 


School  playground,  1 17  ff. 

Sex  evils,  to  be  studied,  317. 

Sex  habits,  secret,  204. 

Sex  instinct,  as  socializing  agency, 
199. 

Sexual  love,  instructive  and  ex- 
tremely helpful,  20 ;  necessity  of 
careful  treatment,  20  ff. 

Smoking,  bad  for  boys,  205  f. 

Social  democracy,  fostered  by 
training,  4. 

Social  efficiency,  training  for,  5. 

Social  entertainment,  how  to  con- 
duct, 209  f . ;  several  forms  of, 
211  ff. 

Social  renaissance,  in  the  country, 
199. 

Social  sensitiveness,  a  form  of 
fear,  18 ;  great  value  in  training, 
19,  20. 

Social  training  of  farm  youths, 
197  ff. ;  in  economic  clubs,  215 ; 
a  working  plan  for,  198  ff. ;  based 
on  sex  instinct,  199 ;  menaces 
to,  200  ff. ;  in  ideal  country 
home,  208. 

Social  training  schools,  314. 

Social  work,  for  girls,  295  f. 

Solitude,  a  means  of  culture,  35. 

Stenography,  for  girls,  294. 

Teaching,  hard  on  young  women, 

203. 
Tuberculosis,  is  it  inheritable?  8, 

9. 

University  of  Pennsylvania,  309. 
Usefulness,  as  ideal  of  education,  3. 

Vacations,  based  on  instincts  and 

desires,  163,  226. 
Vacations,   necessity   of  providing 

for,  176  f. ;    a  father's  plan  for, 

177  f. 
Vocation,   for  farm   boy,   275   ff. ; 

should  it  be  farming,   275;    go 

slow  in  choosing,  276  f. ;    three 

methods  of  training  for,  279  f . ; 

preparation    of    farm    girl    for, 

289  ff. 


326 


Index 


Vocational  schools,  in  the  South, 
229  f. 

Wallaces'  Farmer,  43,  44,  73. 

Waters,  President  H.  J.,  127. 

Wealth,  not  evidence  of  substantial 
country  society,  84. 

Witmer,  Dr.  Lightner,  309. 

Women,  occupations  for,  291  ff. 

Work,  as  basis  of  society,  171  ff.; 
for  the  boy's  sake,  172  f. ;  wrong 
attitude  of  workmen  toward, 
174 ;  a  father's  method  of  train- 
ing boy  for,  175  f. ;  a  schedule 
of  hours  for,  178  ff. ;   how  much 


for  the  girl,  183  ff. ;  foundation 
for  vocation,  285 ;  necessary 
as  discipline,  30,  31 ;  not  liked 
by  natural  children,  31 ;  ac- 
quired fondness  for,  32 ;  a  part 
of  the  good  school  course,  33 ; 
spiritualized  by  country  church, 
98. 
World's  Work,  73. 

Y.M.C.A.,  rural,  129  ff . ;  pur- 
poses of,  131 ;  how  to  organize, 
132  ff. ;  leader  for,  133  f. ;  how 
to  conduct,  136;  example  of  rural 
in  Kansas,  143  f. 


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